WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.120
If my voice didn't matter, people wouldn't be trying so
2
00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:06.200
hard to silence me. And if my vote didn't matter,
3
00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.599
they wouldn't work so hard to take it away. So
4
00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.439
you know, on I'm voting this November because I know
5
00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:13.400
they don't want me to.
6
00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.640
Your voice is powerful, your voice matters. Don't let your
7
00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.559
voice be silenced. To register, confirm your voting status, or
8
00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:25.600
get information about voting in your area, visit vote dot gov.
9
00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.000
That's vote dot goov a message from the Perception Institute
10
00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:31.800
and the Black Information Network.
11
00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:35.840
It's Sunday, October twentieth and On today's show, Andrea Coleman
12
00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.000
talks to Mark Murrial about the passing of a New
13
00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:43.479
Orleans and civil rights legend. Vanessa Tyler talks basketball with
14
00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.560
some pioneer legends of the court. Morganwood talks to political
15
00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:51.920
strategist Nina Smith. Esther Dillard talks with the mayor of Enfield,
16
00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:56.159
North Carolina and the founding principle of Blackmail Voters Project
17
00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:59.640
mon Dale Robinson, and Doug Davis talks to the first
18
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.960
Africa and American US MINT Director. These stories and more
19
00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.439
are coming your way on today's program, Welcome to the
20
00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:11.480
Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
21
00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:16.040
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
22
00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.599
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
23
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:21.640
issues important to the Black community.
24
00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.840
Good Sunday to everyone, and welcome to another edition of
25
00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.640
The Black Perspective on the Black Information Network. The city
26
00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:31.480
of New Orleans and others are mourning the passing of
27
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:35.519
a civil rights legend. Civil Heidel Moreal passed away on
28
00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:39.840
September fourth, Distinguished as New orleans first Black first Lady,
29
00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.599
missus Morel was also a civil rights leader. Her son,
30
00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:47.519
Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League,
31
00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:52.200
recently spoke with The Bins Andrea Coleman about his mother's
32
00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:55.200
life and how she helped to reshape the racial power
33
00:01:55.239 --> 00:02:10.159
structure in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.
34
00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.719
I'm a mama's boy at heart and in Seoul, and
35
00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.719
my mother was my mother, my confidant, and my friend.
36
00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:21.919
Mark Morriel's mother was also an exceptional woman.
37
00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:26.159
She was an incredible mother, an incredible wife, a teacher,
38
00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:31.000
an educator, a civil rights activist, a city activist, a
39
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:35.280
documentary movie producer, an author. The list of things she
40
00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:36.719
did was endless.
41
00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.199
The daughter of a doctor and a school teacher, Simple
42
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.759
Highdale Morriel grew up among New Orleans's black upper middle
43
00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:45.960
class and was friends with children like Andrew Young, who
44
00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.520
would grow up to become an ambassador to the un
45
00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:52.840
and mayor of Atlanta. During her college years at Boston University,
46
00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.280
she met a dynamic young man by the name of
47
00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:56.800
Martin Luther King Junior.
48
00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.039
The black students who were at schools in Boston were
49
00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.319
very much a commune, and she was part of that
50
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.919
community and always said that when they were in school,
51
00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:08.639
they would go to listen to Martin preach at various churches,
52
00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:12.719
and she always said he, even at that stage and age,
53
00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.120
was an incredibly gifted preacher orator.
54
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.919
Somewhere along the way of what could be called a
55
00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:23.560
privileged black life, Sybil Hidale Moriel developed a heart for service,
56
00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.280
which her son says was indicative by the Jim Crow
57
00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:29.479
era in which she lived what led to her being
58
00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:30.639
so committed to others.
59
00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.879
Growing up in the thirties and forties, the black community
60
00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:36.759
in New Orleans was very self contained, you know, which
61
00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.360
meant that you could live in a very large and
62
00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:43.599
somewhat independent black community have very little contact like Lenians.
63
00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.759
You know, they were black doctors. There were black insurance companies,
64
00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:50.800
they were black owned grocery stores, black newspapers, black social clubs,
65
00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:54.439
black civic clubs, black churches. And you could grow up
66
00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.719
in a community that, even though it was segregated, was
67
00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:02.639
self supporting and nurturing. Because her father was a physician.
68
00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.560
They had a nice house. They always had food on
69
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.280
the tape, right. They were able to dress nicely by
70
00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.360
the standards of the times. And my grandfather, who had
71
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.879
grown up as a grandson of a slave and the
72
00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.600
son of a sharecropper, was able to by virtue his
73
00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:21.319
profession as a position and building a black insurance company
74
00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.639
to half by the standards of the time, some material wealth.
75
00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:26.800
I mean my grandfather, I never knew him to drive
76
00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.399
any other kind of carb the Cadillac. Always doing to
77
00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:33.600
wear really nice suits and nice clothes. You know. My
78
00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:37.000
grandparents were pecably dressed. They had a very nice house.
79
00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:40.319
Grandmother always said, do not go in my front room. Boy,
80
00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.199
that was my grandmother. That's the house.
81
00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:46.079
Don't go ahead, there's a company, but your diad going
82
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.399
and you go through the side the day of the
83
00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:54.319
back and so I think, notwithstanding that, they were aware
84
00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:56.079
that the city was segregated.
85
00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.720
And of course her childhood friend was Andrew Young. Andrew
86
00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:03.160
young father was a dentist, My grandfather was a doctor.
87
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.519
They both went to Howard. They were very good friends.
88
00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:11.120
Andrew Young's mother and my grandmother, Daisy Young and my
89
00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:15.040
grandmother Dora Hyghdel were very best of friends. And those
90
00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:19.879
types of black communities existed in Atlanta and New Orleans,
91
00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.720
and in Washington, d c. And Memphis and a lot
92
00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.439
of places where there was a self containment. Even though
93
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:28.959
you were living in segregation, you could live in the
94
00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.279
community and you didn't have to have a lot of
95
00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:34.160
contact with the white people, so you were spared the
96
00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:37.600
daily indignity is unless you were a black person that
97
00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.360
worked for white people. And so a lot of black
98
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.000
people still worked for white people or they worked in
99
00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.639
a white institution in those days. You know, they may
100
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.319
have worked on the docks, or they may have worked
101
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.560
in cleaning other people's homes, so you still had that.
102
00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:54.639
But for the children growing up, they went to an
103
00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.879
all black school, they were in all black clubs. They
104
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.560
you know, there were no parks and playgrounds for them
105
00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.399
to go to. There were no fools to swim in.
106
00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.120
There were no amusement parks, so that had to make
107
00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.800
their own world, and that was a segregated world in
108
00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.240
the life of New Orleans. So my parents grew up
109
00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:18.240
committed to civil rights, and in those days it meant
110
00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.079
being committed to integration. And therefore, when it came time
111
00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.879
for us to go to school, we went to integrated schools,
112
00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.399
recently integrated schools, and we suffered at a young age
113
00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:33.000
the indignities have called the n word of being chased,
114
00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:38.399
being disparaged. You know, that side of the early days
115
00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.720
of integration created a toughness and a resilience in you.
116
00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.680
I got in a lot of little fights, you know,
117
00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:49.240
it just was the way it was. People call you
118
00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:51.240
a name, you defended yourself.
119
00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:51.839
Right.
120
00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:55.160
That was the world we grew up in, and the
121
00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:58.839
parents pushed us because we were like on that cutting
122
00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:02.519
edge of change, schools, being integrated, being able to go
123
00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:06.759
to integrated restaurants. So my parents made it a point
124
00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:09.959
to take us out to places that were recently integrated.
125
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.759
Right while we lived in our neighborhood, which Punchtrain Park
126
00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:18.560
was an all black neighborhood, we ventured beyond the neighborhood
127
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.240
to go to the integrated schools. And that was the
128
00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:24.279
reality of the early days of integration. There was a
129
00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:28.240
hope that those early frictions and tensions would level out.
130
00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:33.000
We know now racism does not die easily, and racism
131
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.319
seems to be refueled and given new oxygen, and that
132
00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:39.079
you take steps forward and take steps backward.
133
00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:44.439
What was key to the change they made because just
134
00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:49.360
looking at the list of accomplishments, your mom, after being
135
00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:52.399
denied by the League of Women Voters in New Orleans,
136
00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:56.319
she founded the Louisiana League for Good Government. An author said,
137
00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:01.360
your father was his own radical revolution. Number first is
138
00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:03.720
like incredible. He was the first black graduate of the
139
00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.319
Louisiana State University Law School. He became the first black
140
00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.279
person since reconstruction to be elected to the Louisiana State Legislature.
141
00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:14.120
He was the first black assistant US attorney in New Orleans,
142
00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:17.399
the first black juvenile court judge there, the first black
143
00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.879
on the state's fourth Circuit of Court of Appeals.
144
00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:21.839
You're like almost falling.
145
00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.800
Asleep from this list. And this was all your father
146
00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.680
and your mother and what they accomplished.
147
00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.360
They were activists and they were pushing and they were
148
00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.279
determined and they would not be denied. And they were
149
00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:37.159
part of a generation of people who were just like them.
150
00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:42.000
They were pushing to knock the doors down. They understood
151
00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.519
how to work within the system and outside of the
152
00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:48.879
system simultaneous. They knew how to challenge the system. He
153
00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.720
had worked within the system. You know my mother when
154
00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:55.039
she started the Louisiana Legal Good Government, Yes, and it
155
00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:58.679
was an enormously successful organization. I remember they'd have these
156
00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:02.399
luncheons every year and they'd have speakers in from Barbara
157
00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:06.279
Jordan and Shirley Chisholm and all these great speakers would
158
00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.200
come in and how you'd go to the lunch and
159
00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.360
it seemed like there were two thousand people there. I
160
00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.919
remember the meetings of the Louisiana League and Good Government
161
00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:16.679
Board meetings in our kitchen, at our kitchen table. I mean,
162
00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:18.679
they met in people's homes and a lot of the
163
00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:21.879
women who were involved were my mother's friends who were teachers.
164
00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.399
You know, it was a lot of people they were teachers,
165
00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.240
They were members of the teachers' union. They organized. I
166
00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:32.039
remember going to voter registration rallies and motorcades right after
167
00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.519
the voting Rights Act. You know, my mother in law.
168
00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.120
They said, we have to, you know, help register people
169
00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.600
and help people get active and involved in the civic
170
00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.159
affairs of the city. So it was a time of challenge,
171
00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.639
but also a time of excitement. Right new found rights,
172
00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.480
new earned rights, and they were simply on a mission.
173
00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:53.440
Your remarks at her service, you gave her credit for
174
00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:57.600
your father's success. If I can quote you correctly, I
175
00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:01.080
think you said something like Dutch who's your was a
176
00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:03.720
bad boy, and he really was a bad boy, but
177
00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:07.399
he wouldn't have been anything without your mom.
178
00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:08.879
Explain that.
179
00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:11.159
How did she influence his success?
180
00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:13.919
I think in a lot of ways, my mother had
181
00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.879
entrained connections and part of the community that my father
182
00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.240
may not have. My mother had an innate common sense.
183
00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:23.799
She was a great read of people. I told the
184
00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:27.679
story of my father's first campaign when he was struggling
185
00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:30.840
to raise money and he trying to organize his fundraiser
186
00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:32.799
and the people who were going to organize the fundraiser
187
00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:35.679
hadn't really done anything to organize the fundraiser. When he
188
00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.279
came home frustrated, she pretty much said, get out of
189
00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.039
the way, let me kind of take this thing over,
190
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:44.320
and I'll put the whole thing together right, and I
191
00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:47.559
remember that very distinctly. He was very frustrated. So she
192
00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.720
stepped in, you know. She was incredibly supportive, and she
193
00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:53.519
knew people that he didn't know, and of course he
194
00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:57.360
had connections, you know. And then she was a multitasker.
195
00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:03.120
She had the ability to raise children and have a job,
196
00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:05.799
and be a mother and a wife all at the
197
00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.679
same time. She's a multitask in a way that would
198
00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.120
probably frustrate and wear most people out.
199
00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.720
How did she influence your success because you've had success
200
00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:17.840
to You've served in the Louisiana State Senate, you were
201
00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:20.000
a two time mayor of New Orleans, and then you
202
00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:23.360
went on to either be the PRESIDENCYO of the National
203
00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:24.000
Urban League.
204
00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.240
I think it's the commitment that she was always active,
205
00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:33.120
always working, always doing something that influenced me. The sense
206
00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:38.000
of wanting to be good and excellent at things influenced me.
207
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:42.559
I think the sense that you owe an obligation to
208
00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.600
the black community if you have opportunity, and we got
209
00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:51.480
the benefit of a good education, and with that, it
210
00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.159
was the sense of obligation that you had right and
211
00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.399
responsibility that you had to the community, to the notion
212
00:11:57.480 --> 00:12:01.240
of civil rights, that living a selfish material life. To
213
00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.600
my parents, that was sinful to just pursue materiality, you know,
214
00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:09.200
it was corrosive to them. It was empty to them.
215
00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.240
It was like, you got to be about something. You
216
00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.080
got to stand for something. No matter what you have,
217
00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.200
you got to stay we have nothing or something, you
218
00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.240
got to stand for something.
219
00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:18.519
What does it feel like to be a member of
220
00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:21.600
a family with such rich history. I mean, many of
221
00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.679
the accomplishments are historic.
222
00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:28.200
So I feel proud. But my family's extraordinary. But we're
223
00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.639
also ordinary. That's what our parents taught us. You were
224
00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.120
going to have your feet flat on the ground. You
225
00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:38.000
are not going to be arrogant, big headed. They were remarkable,
226
00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:43.279
but they were also you know, like their contemporaries and friends,
227
00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:47.039
you know. My sense is that they were all like this, right.
228
00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:51.720
They were people who tasted lived in segregation and then
229
00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:55.519
lived in integration. They lived before the Civil Rights Act,
230
00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.519
you know, and it's a rarity. There's only one generation
231
00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.799
that can have that. We don't have that do I mean?
232
00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.200
I remember segregation as a little boy, the bus on
233
00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.159
the screen on the bus, the colored only bathrooms. I
234
00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.480
remember it as a little You know till us five
235
00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:13.200
six years old as a young boy. Then it sort
236
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.320
of became a different reality. That's why that generation they
237
00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:22.519
saw experience felt and new segregation. Also, you know, you
238
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:28.120
could go back and they had grandparents that lived in slavery.
239
00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:32.240
So the connectivity they had, they could touch back to
240
00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:35.559
a grandparent who lived in slavery and reached forward and
241
00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.399
they were living in an integration. It's a unique generation
242
00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:41.200
of people, you know, the black people, the people born
243
00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:43.919
in the you know, the teens, the twenties, the thirties
244
00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:47.879
who were old enough to have lived in segregation as
245
00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:51.039
young adults, so they were conscious of it. But then
246
00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:54.720
they were part of a new post civil rights you know,
247
00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:57.320
integrated America, more integrated in America.
248
00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.600
How do you hope history will remember your mother.
249
00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:04.200
I hope she will be remembered as a good, decent,
250
00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:09.879
unselfish change agent. And my mother was extremely beloved, you know,
251
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.879
she just had that way. And a lot of times
252
00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:14.720
when I campaign, I'd.
253
00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.279
Run into people, you know, older than me who'd say, oh,
254
00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.080
your mother was my second grade teacher. You know, I
255
00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.200
run into people from time to time you said, oh,
256
00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.399
you know, your grandfather delivered right, and that was very
257
00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:27.919
touching to run it to people. I still run it
258
00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:30.600
to some from time to time, who said, your mother
259
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.440
taught me in second grade. Your mother was my you know,
260
00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.720
my counselor at Xavier University. And so you don't even
261
00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:40.159
know all the people she touched because she didn't talk
262
00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:40.960
about all of them.
263
00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:41.960
It's just who she was.
264
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.759
It seems like we also wanted to add that Ernest Moril,
265
00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.639
Mark's late father, became the first black mayor of New
266
00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.720
Orleans in nineteen seventy eight and served two terms, and
267
00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:55.720
that means his lovely wife, Sybuheidel Moriel, became the city's
268
00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:59.159
first black first lady. The family asked anyone wanting to
269
00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.279
honor the memory of Missus Moriel to consider making a
270
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:06.360
donation to the Xavier University Fund, the Almostead Research Center,
271
00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.519
where Missus Moriel, her late husband, and Mark's papers are
272
00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:13.279
being held, and or the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp, which
273
00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:16.799
works with as firing jazz artists. In closing by in
274
00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:19.759
since its condolences to the Moriel family.
275
00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:21.200
And the New Orleans community in.
276
00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.840
The passing of such an extraordinary black woman.
277
00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:27.360
Mike, thank you, Andrea. If you would like to learn
278
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.240
more about civil heidel Morele. You can find her memoir
279
00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:36.360
entitled A Witness to Change at most major booksellers. Are
280
00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.600
you a basketball fan? The players who grace the court
281
00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:43.200
today are far different than those who bounced the ball yesterday,
282
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:47.360
but remembering who they are and what they sacrificed is
283
00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:50.879
part of Black history that should not be forgotten. The
284
00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:55.440
Black Information Networks Vanessa Tyler reports on the memories.
285
00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.120
A bound to experience as a full court press of
286
00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:07.559
the pioneers of basketball, wrapped in a love story.
287
00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.879
We were loving all day long. We held hands while
288
00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.639
we slept. I've done a mold of his hand. He
289
00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.320
was a very special man. He had great integrity, and
290
00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.240
they just don't come like it. They broke the mold
291
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:25.279
and I was fortunate, God bless me to have him
292
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:25.919
in my life.
293
00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:31.080
Her love basketball pioneer Carl Green and the tribute he
294
00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.279
just received brought out the legends of the game.
295
00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:39.480
Jared Monree start.
296
00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:43.000
There was a time back in the nineteen seventies when
297
00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.840
the crowd would go wild over the moves of Earl
298
00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:49.679
the Pearl Monroe. On this day in his hometown of Harlem,
299
00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:53.320
New York. He was not under the unusually warm fall
300
00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.559
day to talk about himself. This Hall of Famer was
301
00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:00.879
here to honor his friend, Carl Green, a former member
302
00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:02.960
of the Harlem Globetrotters.
303
00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:07.839
Call has been a good person for a long long time.
304
00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.440
And you know he went to my alma model instance
305
00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:16.920
alum for a while and we kind of like clutched
306
00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.799
onto each other for you know, early on, and we've
307
00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:24.200
been very good, you know friends. You know, you think
308
00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:28.319
of us as pioneers, and pioneers weren't the ones who
309
00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.119
really reaped the benefics of what it all got to be.
310
00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:33.880
So you know, here we are now, and you know,
311
00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.319
guys are reaping their benefics. And this was just one
312
00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:37.880
of those.
313
00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.440
Things pioneers did, put in the work, endured the disrespect
314
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.519
and the blatant racism. What were those times.
315
00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:49.480
Like, Well, when he came up, there weren't any opportunities.
316
00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:52.960
It was the Globetrotters because you couldn't play in the league.
317
00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:57.440
They didn't have blacks in the league. So his whole
318
00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:02.000
basketball career was built around the Globe Trotters. In the
319
00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:06.240
Eastern League. They didn't allow black guys to play in
320
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.559
the league. It was a tough situation, but he weathered
321
00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.480
it and came through to where he is today.
322
00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.000
That's Tom Hoover, former center for teams like the New
323
00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:19.920
York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and more. In the nineteen sixties,
324
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.799
he also graced the court for teams in the American
325
00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:27.720
Basketball Association like Denver Rockets, Houston Mavericks. We heard from
326
00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.400
him at the top. Carl Green was also his friend.
327
00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.240
And what does his legacy mean for the ballers today?
328
00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.920
Well, if they know the history, it helps. But the
329
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.839
problem is they don't really understand the history because when
330
00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:47.000
you're making twenty five thirty million dollars a year, you
331
00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:53.039
don't care anything about anybody else except myself. And as
332
00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.799
you see in this world today, every kid is on
333
00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:58.319
the phone. So what do they know. They don't even read.
334
00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.079
You get this center of a little bit of a
335
00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:04.319
broken heart. As I talked to these giants of black
336
00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.680
men about the past, the present, the future.
337
00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:12.599
Does it hurt it's life because man is indifferent to
338
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:13.519
his own self.
339
00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:16.759
I'm not a happy camper today because it's a sad
340
00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:22.880
day that we're missing a man. Okay, Carl Green, Floyd Lane,
341
00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:27.000
Hilton White, Too many guys that meant to us, and
342
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.079
people always say, people too many guys that mented us, okay,
343
00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:33.680
that are not here anymore. Who's taking up the slack?
344
00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:37.799
Who's taking up the slack? Where are our black leaders
345
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:41.480
at now? Because they led us, Okay, they mented us,
346
00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.720
they advised us, and they gave us strength, They gave
347
00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:50.319
us encouragement, they gave us confidence. Okay, we had loyalty
348
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:55.000
even though calling from Harlem. Okay, he was a trotter
349
00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:59.680
and his message was and I hear this from other
350
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.200
glob trotters now they said Carl Breen was serious about
351
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:04.559
his game.
352
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.160
That's Nate tiny archibald. And if you don't know, you
353
00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.279
need to ask somebody. In nineteen ninety sixt he was
354
00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:14.839
considered one of the fifty greatest players in NBA history.
355
00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.240
He didn't play with the Globe Trotters that due to entertainment.
356
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.680
He played with the Globe trotters that wanted the beach
357
00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:23.319
your behind and win games and stuff like that. So
358
00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:28.200
he was always serious about his demeanor, serious about building
359
00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:33.440
confidence and loyalty to anybody where he went. Okay, very
360
00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.680
soft spoken, very didn't say a whole lot, but when
361
00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:38.079
he did, you listened.
362
00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.519
See there was something different about Carl. He was the
363
00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:45.720
part of the team that didn't do much of the
364
00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:49.079
antics the globe Trotters are known for. He could do them.
365
00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:52.880
His approach was different, says his wife Judith Green.
366
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.839
But Carl was the baller and that's you know, that's
367
00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.319
who he was. He could do some tricks now, but
368
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:04.559
he was a boiler and I you know, to hear
369
00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:10.079
them referred to as clowns because honestly, that NBA exists
370
00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.759
because of them. In the beginning, the Globetrotters were the
371
00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:19.599
first on the billing, and after the crowd would see
372
00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:22.960
the Globetrotters, they would leave. So they had to switch
373
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.119
it so that the Globetrotters were come at the end
374
00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:31.400
and the NBA players paid, you know, before them. That
375
00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:33.480
was the only way they could get the crowd to stay.
376
00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:35.720
And also, you know, at that time there was a
377
00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:40.000
quota system, and so the best ball players played for
378
00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:41.359
the Harlem Globetrotters.
379
00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:44.880
Carl Green died last year at the age of eighty nine,
380
00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:47.759
and on this sunny day, those who knew and loved
381
00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.960
him gathered in Harlem to honor him in one of
382
00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:54.880
the best ways they knew how On the.
383
00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:56.480
Three only okay, no Holo.
384
00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:10.599
Shook a street renaming forevermore.
385
00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:13.319
The corner of one hundred and thirteenth Street in Saint
386
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.400
Nicholas Avenue in Harlem is.
387
00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:16.279
Now Carl C.
388
00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:20.240
Green Way. Hear more from these legends of the game.
389
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:24.039
And in the end, this is a love story as
390
00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:28.000
only as Carl Green's wife Judith Green could tell the
391
00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:32.039
rest of this story on my podcast, Blackland. Hear it
392
00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.799
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
393
00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:40.880
I'm Vanessa Tyler with the Black Perspective. Mike back to you.
394
00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:44.799
Thanks Vanessa. The Black Information Networks Morgan Wood caught up
395
00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:49.039
with political strategist Nina Smith at the Democratic National Convention
396
00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:51.599
and she shared her thoughts on what it will take
397
00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:56.240
for Vice President Kamala Harris to win this upcoming presidential election.
398
00:22:56.519 --> 00:22:58.759
Joining me right now on the Black Information Network is
399
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:02.200
Nina Smith, a Democratic strategists and we're here at the
400
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:06.799
DNC in Chicago. It's the final night Vice President Kamala
401
00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:10.680
Harris is expected to accept the party's nomination. Nina, thank
402
00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:11.640
you so much for joining me.
403
00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:13.920
Thank you for having me. I'm really glad to be here.
404
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.319
So talk to me about the strategy. What is the
405
00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:22.000
strategy you are you're the strategist. What's the strategy to
406
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:24.799
get the votes and get Vice President Harris to the
407
00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:26.200
finish line and in the White House.
408
00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:28.599
Well, I think it's most important for us to continue
409
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.319
what we've been doing, which is engaging people where they
410
00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:34.680
are and meeting them where they are, having real conversations
411
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.920
about how to improve their lives right and I think
412
00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:41.200
that's something that the Democratic Party is best position to do.
413
00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:41.799
Right now.
414
00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.960
We have the infrastructure, we have folks who have been
415
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:50.039
on doors since March. You know, we have gotten really
416
00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:53.880
smart about how to reach voters, and we've learned so
417
00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:57.039
much from twenty twenty in terms of like turning out
418
00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:00.440
people who allow of folks send to overlook. And so
419
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:04.559
I think we're definitely ready to have real conversations and
420
00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:07.519
do so in very strategic ways because we have now
421
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.440
the technology and tools to do so. And now we
422
00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.880
also have a candidate with an excellent record that we
423
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:17.279
can run on and really help people shape their you know,
424
00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.640
their idea what their future can look like under her leadership.
425
00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:24.119
What is the idea of the future. I mean, you're
426
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:29.400
talking about against strategy and different line items and different topics,
427
00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:33.680
key items, key issues, whether it be women's reproductive health,
428
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:38.119
whether it be gun reform, gun violence. What do you
429
00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:41.160
think the future looks like with this administration?
430
00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.920
With this administration, you know, the future looks like that.
431
00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:49.960
It's a future where our freedoms are protected. It's a
432
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.279
future where you know, we can talk about issues and disagree,
433
00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:58.680
but also find compromise and a way forward. It's a
434
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:03.200
future where you know, folks who you know love who
435
00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:06.559
they love, or folks who you know are making very
436
00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:09.279
hard and some of the most difficult healthcare decisions in
437
00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:13.599
their lifetimes can do so without you know, their government interfering,
438
00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:16.799
you know. And so that's why I think that future
439
00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:20.519
vision around freedom is just so perfect, right, because that's
440
00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:23.960
what we're all looking for in our individual lives. And
441
00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:26.759
I think that's something that every American can relate to.
442
00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:30.440
Speaking of relating you yourself, a black woman in leadership,
443
00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.880
looking forward to having a black woman in leadership, chief
444
00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:37.960
commander in office. Talk to me about women in leadership.
445
00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:43.279
You know, there have been findings and surveys that show that,
446
00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:46.720
you know, there's been a decline in trust in women's leadership,
447
00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:48.599
and that's because it's difficult.
448
00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:49.240
That said.
449
00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:53.960
More of us. As we attain these positions, I think
450
00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:57.119
the world gets used to us and sees just how
451
00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:00.240
powerful we are and what we can do right. And
452
00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:02.759
I think that's what's made this moment so unique. People
453
00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:06.400
are hungry for something new, and this is new. Women
454
00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:08.960
don't usually get access to that type of power, and
455
00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:12.240
now we have it. And I think it's a great
456
00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:17.519
opportunity for people to understand how the unique experiences we
457
00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:20.240
bring to the table that can really transform this country
458
00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:24.079
into something that they've never seen before. Your message to voters,
459
00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:28.680
you know, I think to voters, I hope you take
460
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.880
a hard look at the record of Democrats and what
461
00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:34.720
we've been up to over the last four years. We've
462
00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:37.880
been fighting every single day for working families. We've been
463
00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.480
fighting every single day to expand opportunity for more folks,
464
00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:44.799
to protect folks and their freedoms, and you know, you
465
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.880
can expect more of the same and for us to
466
00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:50.279
continue having conversations about how we can grow and even
467
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:53.000
serve better. And I think that's something that it's a
468
00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:55.759
conversation we're having internally, and I think it's exciting that
469
00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:58.920
we'll potentially have the opportunity to do that externally and
470
00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:00.640
at the highest levels of path I.
471
00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:03.640
Love to execute on those plans. Thank you so much, Nina,
472
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:04.680
no problem, Thank you.
473
00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:08.079
Thanks Morgan. And now it's time for this week's segment
474
00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:11.960
of The Color Between the Lines. It's with Mondale Robinson.
475
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.599
He's the founding principal of the Black Male Voters Project
476
00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:19.000
and mayor of Enfield, North Carolina. He spoke to Esther
477
00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:22.359
about how black mail voters felt talked down to by
478
00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:26.319
former President Obama and others. He was a super real
479
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:29.640
talker with great facts on black men and their support
480
00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:30.400
of black women.
481
00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:34.519
Joining me is Mondale Robinson. He is the founding principal
482
00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:40.039
of Black Male Voters Project and mayor of Enfield, North Carolina.
483
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.319
Thank you, Mayor Robinson for joining us on the BION.
484
00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:46.119
Thank you for having me. I appreciate you well.
485
00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:49.519
No doubt you've seen these latest attempts by both candidates
486
00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:52.640
Trump and VP Kamala Harris to reach out to black voters,
487
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.680
and you've no doubt heard at least one polls at
488
00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:59.559
at least one in five Black men are leaning to
489
00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:03.559
a Trump. How in your opinion have both candidates done
490
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:06.079
in the past few weeks leading up to the election
491
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:08.039
to reach out to black mail voters.
492
00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:10.519
So let me let me start.
493
00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.000
That's a two part question for me, because one part,
494
00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:18.279
I'm a political animal, so I'm super excited to see
495
00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.400
a Democratic candidate get so much and so many things, right,
496
00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:25.680
So I'm super excited about that. But as a black
497
00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:31.079
man who engages black men politically for work, and not
498
00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:34.400
just those who are college educated, not those who are
499
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:36.920
members of Divine nine, not those who are members of
500
00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:41.480
legacy organizations like the NWCP or the National Urban League,
501
00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:44.960
not those brothers, not the business owners or the wealthy
502
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:48.880
class like d ol Hughley and Steve Harvey. I'm talking
503
00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:52.519
about the brothers at the Q and Steve Harley and
504
00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:56.519
Obama are talking down to. So it happens to be
505
00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:00.000
the majority of black men. Fifty of the ninth point
506
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.839
six million black men that are registered to vote in
507
00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:06.440
this country have not voted in the last four federal elections.
508
00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:11.359
Not because they're misogynistic, because every candidate was not a woman, right.
509
00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:14.920
I speak to those brothers who are missing in the
510
00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:18.079
political space because the conversation is a middle class conversation
511
00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:22.079
that we have the lowest social markers of any demographic
512
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:24.640
in this country, and those social markers are the real
513
00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:26.319
suppressors of vote.
514
00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.839
When people are poored, worried about food.
515
00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:31.640
In secure and housing, voting is not a priority to
516
00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.480
them because everything they're trying to do is survive.
517
00:29:34.599 --> 00:29:35.240
They're not living.
518
00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:39.160
So VP Harris has put out a plan that includes
519
00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:44.640
providing forgivable business loans for black entrepreneurs, creating more apprenticeships
520
00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:49.000
studying sickle cell and other diseases that disproportionately affect African
521
00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:54.160
American men. And from what you just told me, I
522
00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:57.400
don't know if that is something that would appeal to
523
00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:00.680
those who you're talking about that feel like they're being
524
00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:03.680
talked down to? Do you think it appeals to those
525
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:04.279
black men?
526
00:30:04.359 --> 00:30:04.680
Are they?
527
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:06.279
Is it changing their minds?
528
00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:09.880
Yeah? Let's be clear. I mean the plan.
529
00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:13.359
No one in this political space right now is doing
530
00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:16.400
a better job talking too and being in community with
531
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:21.200
black men other than the Vice President Kamalari's uh so
532
00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:23.799
she so she's doing what she can, but the factors
533
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.400
that she's facing are bigger than her. So let me
534
00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.799
speak to part of her plan. And you know I
535
00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:30.519
had an input on that. I I I try to
536
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:34.079
assist where I can with the VP. And part of
537
00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:37.519
part of me existing is me knowing that you know
538
00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:40.720
there's there's a shortcoming of the political system. Black men
539
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.759
don't trust political actors who show up for the first
540
00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:47.519
time in political cycles asking for their vote. That is
541
00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:50.319
because of the history of America and what it looks
542
00:30:50.359 --> 00:30:53.359
like to be black man and American. I will say
543
00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:57.200
that plan has that plan has great footing as a foundation.
544
00:30:57.400 --> 00:31:00.839
It cannot be what we all have to I what's
545
00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:02.319
all out there for black men.
546
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:04.920
That plan left out a lot of stuff that's necessary.
547
00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:07.920
We definitely need the Vice President to get to a
548
00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:09.720
point where we're talking about reparations.
549
00:31:09.880 --> 00:31:13.160
We know she brought that part of the conversation up
550
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:13.400
in the.
551
00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:16.279
Political space in twenty twenty and she says something about
552
00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:19.240
this cycle. So we just need her to be sure
553
00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:20.799
that that's going to be a part of what she's
554
00:31:20.839 --> 00:31:23.400
pushing for, because it is important to black men that
555
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:26.680
we address the shortcomings of America and all.
556
00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:28.759
Of the bearers that's created for black men.
557
00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:33.119
We know that the child support system is broken, right
558
00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:35.519
there's not a.
559
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:36.279
Stickler, a.
560
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:41.519
Set marker on how people will be charged based on
561
00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:45.640
money they make, and they and where they live or
562
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:48.920
how many kids they have. It's determined by whatever the
563
00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:51.640
judge feels you should be paying is what you're paying.
564
00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.079
So we need some consistency in the child support system.
565
00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:57.880
And I think that's the serious thing. That is not
566
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:00.839
an issue that the Vice president created. It's an issue
567
00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:03.559
that she finds herself having to deal with if she's
568
00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:05.799
trying to reach black men. But I do think that
569
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:09.680
the plan is a great first step. Nobody nobody, and
570
00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:11.839
she's done it in one hundred days. To put this
571
00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:14.680
plan out as fast is powerful because Donald Trump has
572
00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:17.839
been running since he lost this job and he's not
573
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.680
had a plan for black men, and we definitely didn't
574
00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:22.839
so see Joe Biden put out a plan for black men.
575
00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:26.880
So to see a plan specifically for black men in
576
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:29.960
this moment says a lot, especially when we, like I said,
577
00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:32.440
we've never seen a candidate say hey, this is for
578
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:35.039
black men and then articulate what they mean. That is
579
00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:39.200
not lib service. So it would be remorseful on my
580
00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:42.200
part for me to pretend that this is small prize
581
00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:45.799
when it's not. But it also would be a sestind
582
00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:47.279
to the work that I do and the brothers that
583
00:32:47.319 --> 00:32:50.279
I say. I represent if I didn't say, it's the
584
00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:52.519
foundation and is not all.
585
00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:54.799
In twenty twenty two, you were elected the mayor of
586
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:58.680
your hometown Infield, North Carolina, and where you defeated an
587
00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:01.960
incumbent by more than fifty three percentage points to become
588
00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:05.519
the youngest mayor in the town's history. Congratulations in that.
589
00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:10.279
I know that's a long long time ago when you
590
00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:13.000
think in terms of when that happened and where we
591
00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:15.880
are now. So you know a thing or two about
592
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:19.480
being up against the odds. So what has your organization
593
00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:23.240
found that black mail voters really want that they haven't
594
00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:27.680
received from past candidates. What are they looking for?
595
00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:33.160
So, first of all, it's it's not simply messaging or
596
00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:35.759
issues that are going to animate black men in this
597
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:39.279
election cycle or none. What we know, though, is the
598
00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:42.400
transactional nature of the way we place electoral politics in
599
00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:46.680
this country. It's a depth mail in the colfin of
600
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:51.640
electoral work. Meaning when people show up, or I should
601
00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:54.279
say when people don't show up when it's not an election,
602
00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:57.519
but wait two or three months, it's one election cycle
603
00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:00.720
has start knocking on black men doors. It doesn't matter
604
00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:02.400
what you say to black men, even if you are
605
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:04.799
right on the issue, you will not be seen as
606
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:07.680
a trusted messenger, and therefore you will be ineffective in
607
00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:10.199
moving them or animating them to go to the poll.
608
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.960
That is problematic for everybody that has not had a
609
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:17.679
relationship with black men. So right now, those who are
610
00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:21.719
running ads, those who are those who are knocking on doors,
611
00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:25.039
those who are sending males to black men houses, it's
612
00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:27.760
going to be ineffective to reach these brothers because they
613
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:29.360
don't have long term relationship.
614
00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:32.480
So what black men want is to be seen when it's.
615
00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:35.000
Not just for their vote, when the issues are plaguing
616
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:36.760
them in off election years.
617
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.280
They need people to.
618
00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:42.000
Be there to listen and also really be in community
619
00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:45.440
with them to help find solutions to stop what's plaguing
620
00:34:45.559 --> 00:34:49.320
us and really find an answer to the thing that
621
00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:53.239
we know is the white supremacy and the tolerance for
622
00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:56.199
the long suffering of black men in this country. So
623
00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:59.880
while the economy is extremely important to black men, while
624
00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:04.320
you know for a segment of population, starting businesses is
625
00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:09.199
extremely important, all of that, putting trades back in school,
626
00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:11.840
but it doesn't matter if you know these issues are
627
00:35:11.880 --> 00:35:15.039
important to black men, because if you're not a trusted messenger.
628
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:16.800
They're gonna look at you like his cat.
629
00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:21.559
What is your organization doing to sort of change the
630
00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:24.239
tide on that and inform and encourage black men not
631
00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:27.119
to set out the selection because they're disenchanted.
632
00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.199
Yeah, So, I mean I need people to understand that,
633
00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:33.920
you know, the beauty of black men. Voter Project is
634
00:35:33.960 --> 00:35:36.920
our program. And while you hear voter in our name,
635
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:40.480
so people automatically assume that our tactics are the same
636
00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:45.239
as other political organizations. But our program is based mostly psychology.
637
00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:49.400
Two types the lessons learned from mas Low hierarchy needs
638
00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:51.960
that says if people don't have their basic needs met,
639
00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:55.679
then they can't do things that seem and set self actualization.
640
00:35:56.159 --> 00:35:58.599
And the way that this country presents voting to black men,
641
00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:02.079
people who are living without there, who are not comfortable
642
00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:05.559
in housing, who are not comfortable and uh and in economy,
643
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:09.960
who's not comfort comfortable in healthy relationships or even healthcare,
644
00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:12.440
and we're asking them to do something that doesn't match
645
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:15.760
what they're suffering through. So, but Voter Project do is
646
00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:18.760
in off years all the time. What we're doing is
647
00:36:18.760 --> 00:36:21.519
trying to address the problems that are plaguing back men.
648
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:23.320
So if they're coming home from prison.
649
00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:25.840
We're trying to be there to wrap our arms around
650
00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:29.119
these brothers and say what do you need, clothing, housing.
651
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:29.960
Furniture, whatever.
652
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:32.119
We try to assist them in those in that and
653
00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:34.480
if we can't assist them, we try to find them
654
00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:37.679
someone to stay, like even sometimes at my carib right.
655
00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:38.320
Uh.
656
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.440
If if brothers need jobs and if we can't hire them,
657
00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:45.719
we're trying to find them jobs. We act as in
658
00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:49.920
an interview advocate sometimes meaning we go sit down with
659
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:52.880
these brothers and take interviews for them.
660
00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:54.119
We we we.
661
00:36:53.960 --> 00:36:57.360
Do anything that address the barriers that keep black men
662
00:36:57.639 --> 00:37:00.000
from being whole in this country. So in election years,
663
00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:02.280
when we talk to them about voting, it doesn't seem
664
00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:06.159
transactional because they've seen us eleven twelve times a year,
665
00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:09.519
even if it was not an election. It is important
666
00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:12.519
that people understand that the reason Black Male Voter Project
667
00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:14.960
can talk to the you know, the fifty nine percent
668
00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:18.159
of black men who don't see themselves in traditional politics
669
00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:23.079
is because where they're addressing barriers, reaching these brothers eleven
670
00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:25.880
twelve times a year, even if it's not an election.
671
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:29.960
So, final word, what would you want to say to
672
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:32.119
those voters? Who are kind of sitting on the fence
673
00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:34.159
and saying, really, it's a waste of my time to
674
00:37:34.199 --> 00:37:35.840
go to vote anyway.
675
00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:39.280
Well, I mean I would. I mean, so that conversation,
676
00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:39.719
I don't.
677
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:42.159
I don't think it's that many people that think that
678
00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:44.880
believe that their voters are wasting their time. I do
679
00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:48.360
believe that some people people forget that MIT came up
680
00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:52.280
with this science called habit loops, and it stays that
681
00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:56.159
people trying to form new habits are doing cost benefit
682
00:37:56.199 --> 00:37:59.360
analysis on every decision they make about that habit.
683
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.679
When black men are doing cost benefit analysis about.
684
00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:06.000
Voting, they're comparing what's worth they're going to get for
685
00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:08.559
where they find themselves in America. And that is a
686
00:38:08.559 --> 00:38:11.280
hard sale for black men to believe that you're going
687
00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:15.880
to change what has been my situation, my lot in life.
688
00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:20.679
My grandfather's my father's father's fathers, so that's my great grandfather.
689
00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:23.119
So I think I think people have to consider that
690
00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:25.719
and not just think about it in the terms of
691
00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:29.000
people being apathetic about well a political because the truth
692
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:31.159
of the matter is, the truth of the matter is
693
00:38:31.159 --> 00:38:33.760
black men show up in ways, And I mean in
694
00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:37.400
the last midterm, black people outperform white people for the
695
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:40.159
first time in this country. Yet people still discount that.
696
00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:42.400
People still saying one in five black men are going
697
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:44.920
to vote for Trump, even though there's no historical data
698
00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:47.519
to support that. Every since Donald Trump has been on
699
00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:51.159
the political scene, we watch black men become more progressive.
700
00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:54.159
In twenty twenty, Donald Trump got less Black men vote
701
00:38:54.360 --> 00:38:54.599
than he.
702
00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:55.760
Did in twenty sixteen.
703
00:38:56.039 --> 00:38:58.159
In twenty twenty two, I just told you about how
704
00:38:58.239 --> 00:39:02.840
black people turned out the highest number ever for Democratic candidates,
705
00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:05.599
and then twenty twenty three, black men did something that
706
00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:06.639
was super amazing.
707
00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:10.079
Without the monies of presidential campaigns.
708
00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:15.000
In Ohio, we watched black men outperform everybody, not.
709
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:17.599
Excluding anyone, on women's right to choose.
710
00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:21.719
And the closest demographic to us were black was black women,
711
00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:24.519
and they were eight percentage points behind us. Black men
712
00:39:24.599 --> 00:39:27.599
voted eighty eight percent for women's right to choose and
713
00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:30.199
black women were at eighty percent. And then we even
714
00:39:30.679 --> 00:39:33.400
voted higher for women's right to choose than we did
715
00:39:33.400 --> 00:39:35.960
the legalization in marijuana. So that puts to bed this
716
00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:38.719
idea that black men are not out here supporting black
717
00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:40.639
women and caring about what they're living through.
718
00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:42.679
Even more than what the world.
719
00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:45.159
Want to sell us. So the world keeps talking about marijuana,
720
00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:49.119
and the legalization of marijuana is a big deal because of.
721
00:39:48.039 --> 00:39:51.719
The impacts that the justice system have has had on
722
00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:52.679
black men lives.
723
00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:56.280
But we also know that black men are in community
724
00:39:56.599 --> 00:39:59.679
because unlike any other men in this country, we woke
725
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:03.840
with our women are more than anybody. There's nobody in
726
00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:06.400
this country to vote more with black women than black men,
727
00:40:06.760 --> 00:40:09.719
and it's not even close. And no other men vote
728
00:40:09.719 --> 00:40:13.480
with their women like we do, and it's not even
729
00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:16.039
close over there either. So the idea of this notion
730
00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:19.920
goes back to the lack of intimate relationship that the
731
00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:22.920
political space have with black men, and it's causing all
732
00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:27.000
this type of misinformation and also this frantic behavior from everybody.
733
00:40:27.159 --> 00:40:29.239
People put hair is on fire, worried about black men
734
00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:32.599
so much so that people are online bashing black.
735
00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:34.360
Men for something they've never done.
736
00:40:34.519 --> 00:40:37.159
Black men have never not supported black women when their
737
00:40:37.239 --> 00:40:38.920
name is on the ballot. If you go back and
738
00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:42.119
look at every black woman that ran for office as
739
00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:47.960
a Democrat, the second most support for her was always
740
00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:49.400
black men right behind black women.
741
00:40:50.840 --> 00:40:55.639
Well, thank you, Mayor Mondale Robinson You've definitely enlightened us
742
00:40:55.679 --> 00:40:58.440
with a lot of information from you are the mayor
743
00:40:58.519 --> 00:41:02.079
of Infield, North Carolina and founding principle of the black
744
00:41:02.199 --> 00:41:05.519
Mail Voters Project. We appreciate you joining us on the BION.
745
00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:07.239
Thank you so much for creating the space.
746
00:41:07.480 --> 00:41:08.119
Thanks Ester.
747
00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:12.119
Black excellence has led the federal government to appoint its
748
00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:15.760
first African American US Mint Director in its history, and
749
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:20.079
she has made some major accomplishments since her appointment. Doug
750
00:41:20.199 --> 00:41:21.840
Davis as more.
751
00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.519
Doug, Hey, Thanks Mike. Is Doug Davis taking a pause
752
00:41:24.639 --> 00:41:27.199
on my normal segment Your Black Business to bring you
753
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:30.800
the US Mint's first Black director, the honorable Venetra C.
754
00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:31.440
Gibson.
755
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:32.000
She's here to.
756
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:36.079
Talk about the Harriet Tubman Commemorative coins and its economic impact.
757
00:41:36.159 --> 00:41:39.360
Welcome to the BI and congratulations on your new position.
758
00:41:39.840 --> 00:41:41.760
Thank you very much, appreciate it.
759
00:41:42.639 --> 00:41:45.440
What inspired you to take on the role of us
760
00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:49.679
MEN Director, especially given you know the historical significance as
761
00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:53.159
the first African American appointed to this position since what
762
00:41:53.400 --> 00:41:54.400
seventeen ninety two.
763
00:41:54.920 --> 00:41:59.039
Seventeen ninety two is correct for the Men's existence, I
764
00:41:59.119 --> 00:42:01.800
certainly didn't start than just a few years after that.
765
00:42:03.639 --> 00:42:04.559
I love a humor.
766
00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:10.119
But anyway, I was about to retire from the district
767
00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:15.679
government in twenty twenty one and I received a cosking
768
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:18.679
if I would be interested in this position, and I
769
00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:22.280
thought about it and the historical significance of such an
770
00:42:22.320 --> 00:42:26.519
appointment and the fact that I have always been in
771
00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:29.800
public service, and I saw this as yet another opportunity
772
00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:33.440
to serve the American people. And that is what led
773
00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:38.880
me to starting this role versus the deputy director. That
774
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:44.000
was in September or October of twenty twenty one, and
775
00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:49.280
I was confirmed as the director by the Senate unanimously
776
00:42:50.119 --> 00:42:52.760
in June of twenty twenty two. So I've been at
777
00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:58.239
this going on three years when October this year amazing.
778
00:42:58.679 --> 00:43:05.320
The Harriet Tubman Remembrative coin program powerful tribute to the
779
00:43:05.559 --> 00:43:08.880
iconic figure in American history. Share some of the insights
780
00:43:08.920 --> 00:43:14.480
into the design process for these coins. What symbolism did
781
00:43:14.519 --> 00:43:15.639
you aim to capture?
782
00:43:15.960 --> 00:43:19.320
The symbolism we aimed to capture was in a three
783
00:43:19.360 --> 00:43:24.559
coin set, the gold, silver, and silver clad to one
784
00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:30.320
focus on someone who has who we've persevered and who
785
00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:33.000
we should honor as part of American history.
786
00:43:33.599 --> 00:43:34.880
And when we talk about.
787
00:43:34.599 --> 00:43:38.880
American history and why Harriet Tupman is so important, especially
788
00:43:38.920 --> 00:43:44.280
to African Americans, is what she did, what she sacrificed,
789
00:43:44.360 --> 00:43:50.559
what she put forth to go thirteen different times from
790
00:43:50.719 --> 00:43:56.760
Maryland and Delaware to Pennsylvania to free slaves, and she
791
00:43:56.920 --> 00:44:02.039
never lost one, She never let one leave, and she
792
00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:04.920
didn't let anyone give up. She made sure that the
793
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:08.280
number she was going with was what she arrived in
794
00:44:08.320 --> 00:44:13.599
Pennsylvania ensured their freedom. The significance of this has to
795
00:44:13.639 --> 00:44:18.840
do with us as African Americans knowing that Black history
796
00:44:18.960 --> 00:44:23.360
is American history number one, number two, that we should
797
00:44:23.480 --> 00:44:29.519
always showcase our history in every form, and in this case,
798
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.360
we captured literally the ninety four years of Harriet's life
799
00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:41.199
from one coin representing her commitment to freeing enslaved persons
800
00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:47.960
to the Kombahi River where she planned and organized the
801
00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:52.760
freedom of seven hundred and fifty slaves through by taking
802
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:56.519
one hundred and fifty soldiers, by the nursing that she
803
00:44:56.719 --> 00:44:59.960
provided to our soldiers, and then the fifty four years
804
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:03.480
following all of that that she gave to being an
805
00:45:03.519 --> 00:45:09.239
abolitionist and a suffragist and also a key member and
806
00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:13.920
contributor to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. So that
807
00:45:14.079 --> 00:45:16.960
is what we wanted to do and wanting our youth
808
00:45:17.119 --> 00:45:20.920
to see that, wanting our African Americans to see that,
809
00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:25.159
and as a part of our logo which is connecting
810
00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:29.480
America through coins, this was the way we saw of
811
00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:34.159
reaching out to the communities of color to ensure that
812
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:37.880
we as a people know our history and know what
813
00:45:37.960 --> 00:45:42.800
people did to for as far as being trailblazers and pioneers.
814
00:45:42.920 --> 00:45:43.960
That's right, that's right.
815
00:45:44.519 --> 00:45:48.960
Coins available in gold, silver, half dollar denominations. How do
816
00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:54.519
you see these coins contributing to generational wealth for Black Americans?
817
00:45:55.400 --> 00:45:57.960
Well, I can tell you just from a personal experience
818
00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:02.039
with the gold coin relevant to Harriet Tubman, that when
819
00:46:02.159 --> 00:46:06.000
I looked at how much that would cost, I said, okay,
820
00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:09.800
I you know, it was seven hundred when it started
821
00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:12.960
out for sale, just for the gold coin. And you
822
00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:16.079
know how time gets away from you, time got away
823
00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:18.280
from me. And next thing I looked, it was up
824
00:46:18.280 --> 00:46:21.880
to eight hundred dollars. When I purchased the set, it
825
00:46:21.920 --> 00:46:25.119
was up to nine hundred dollars. So, you know, we
826
00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:30.719
try through financial literacy to build generational wealth. We try
827
00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:36.119
through educating about ways to invest by you know, consulting
828
00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:38.960
with financial analysts, and a number of them will do
829
00:46:39.079 --> 00:46:43.199
them as part of educational campaigns at no charge. But
830
00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:47.599
for US, gold is a way of investing in your
831
00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:50.880
own future if you like it's you know, you don't
832
00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:53.840
have to know the stock market, but you have to
833
00:46:53.880 --> 00:46:57.840
know where gold prices are. And if you want to start,
834
00:46:58.079 --> 00:47:01.000
you know, if you want to just tap that water
835
00:47:01.079 --> 00:47:03.440
a little bit to see if it's cool or warm,
836
00:47:04.159 --> 00:47:08.719
then you can start by just collecting gold coins and
837
00:47:08.760 --> 00:47:13.159
making initial investments in that and see how it does
838
00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:16.840
gold as you know that if it soars and then
839
00:47:16.880 --> 00:47:21.280
it stabilizes, then it's sores and it stabilizes, and it's
840
00:47:21.440 --> 00:47:24.760
just a healthy way to start if you're interested. But
841
00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:28.400
also in coin collecting, generally, a number of coins may
842
00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:30.800
have a lot of value to them if you can
843
00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:33.400
locate and identify the proper ones.
844
00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:36.280
Right right, right, So where do folks go to get
845
00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:38.119
these Harriet Tubman coins.
846
00:47:38.280 --> 00:47:42.960
A us MIT dot gov, and please make sure you
847
00:47:43.079 --> 00:47:48.119
do so before December thirty first, because the Commemorative Coin
848
00:47:48.679 --> 00:47:53.360
program for Harriet Tubman is congressionally mandated and they put
849
00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:57.880
a time limit on it and it expires December thirty first,
850
00:47:58.400 --> 00:48:00.800
and the US Mint will not be able to sell
851
00:48:01.280 --> 00:48:05.719
or make any additional Harriet Tubman coin, So that's very
852
00:48:05.760 --> 00:48:10.159
important to us. The other reason why we really want
853
00:48:10.199 --> 00:48:13.199
to make sure we push the message out to as
854
00:48:13.239 --> 00:48:17.239
many as possible, not only to purchase, but also to
855
00:48:17.480 --> 00:48:23.079
understand that the two organizations that got us the Commemorative
856
00:48:23.119 --> 00:48:29.400
Coin Act through Congressman Meeks and Congresswoman Rosen was because
857
00:48:29.719 --> 00:48:35.360
of the Underground Railroad for the Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio,
858
00:48:35.800 --> 00:48:39.719
and Harriet Tubman's Home in Auburn, New York. The US
859
00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:45.400
MEANT authorizes surcharges to those organizations for all of what
860
00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:49.440
we sell. They get so much for each coin, and
861
00:48:49.519 --> 00:48:53.880
in this case, we've been so successful. We've sold over
862
00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:58.360
fifty thousand dollars fifty thousand in coins and to the
863
00:48:58.440 --> 00:49:02.559
tune right now of lightly over a million dollars, which
864
00:49:02.639 --> 00:49:06.400
the Underground Railroad, Freedom Center and Harriet Tubman's Home will
865
00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:09.360
be able to split equally, and that will go to
866
00:49:09.480 --> 00:49:13.559
helping them rebuild, refurnish, or whatever they would need to do,
867
00:49:13.800 --> 00:49:17.760
educate and inform about Harriet Tubman and her legacy.
868
00:49:18.199 --> 00:49:21.559
Amen for that, Love you for that. Finally, as the
869
00:49:21.639 --> 00:49:25.840
first black director and beyond the Tubman coins, what other
870
00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:29.880
historical figures or events would you like to see commemorated
871
00:49:29.920 --> 00:49:32.119
through the US mint coins in the future.
872
00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:35.400
I would love to see the American Women Quarters program
873
00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:39.679
continue in one framework or another. And what I mean
874
00:49:39.719 --> 00:49:43.760
by that is we introduced in twenty twenty two the
875
00:49:43.880 --> 00:49:48.239
first African American on a quarter. Her name was Maya Angelou,
876
00:49:49.039 --> 00:49:53.199
and we have come full circle to twenty twenty five.
877
00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:57.239
Congress authorized that I'd like to see women become a
878
00:49:57.320 --> 00:50:03.960
part permanently, even though coining meaning the circulating coin Nicholas
879
00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:07.519
Dimes Penny's Quarters can last up to thirty five years
880
00:50:07.559 --> 00:50:11.599
being out in circulation, but I would like for us
881
00:50:11.639 --> 00:50:15.000
to have more opportunities to showcase women as we do
882
00:50:15.159 --> 00:50:20.760
other individuals men specifically. That is one thing I'd love
883
00:50:20.800 --> 00:50:24.639
to do. I'm looking forward and we're excited about our
884
00:50:24.679 --> 00:50:31.880
partnership with Warner Brothers and the characters of Superman, Batman
885
00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:35.880
and Wonder Woman as a trilogy that we will showcase
886
00:50:35.920 --> 00:50:40.159
on coins in twenty twenty five and then in twenty
887
00:50:40.239 --> 00:50:44.199
twenty six. It's the anniversary of the United States two
888
00:50:44.320 --> 00:50:47.599
hundred and fifty years and some of the exciting work
889
00:50:47.639 --> 00:50:51.639
we will be doing around that. That's what we have planned,
890
00:50:52.199 --> 00:50:55.639
separate from the fact of great news. Out of four
891
00:50:55.679 --> 00:51:01.159
thousand coins worldwide the United States meant after one hundred
892
00:51:01.199 --> 00:51:07.719
and ten judges internationally our gold coin one Coin of
893
00:51:07.800 --> 00:51:12.519
the Year and our other coin that features a beautiful
894
00:51:12.639 --> 00:51:16.800
tree one for gold for Coin of the Year two,
895
00:51:17.480 --> 00:51:21.559
So we won two awards internationally and that's a big deal.
896
00:51:22.360 --> 00:51:27.119
So that's something and for me connecting America through coins
897
00:51:26.760 --> 00:51:32.400
as a director, truly reaching out to our communities. That's
898
00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:35.840
why we've been so successful with Harriet, because we've really
899
00:51:35.880 --> 00:51:40.199
pushed our reach to make sure that our kids and
900
00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:43.119
adults and others who may not have had a clue
901
00:51:43.719 --> 00:51:48.159
that Harriet Tubman's there and we need to showcase and
902
00:51:48.320 --> 00:51:53.639
honor her by purchasing these beautiful, beautiful canvases of.
903
00:51:53.719 --> 00:51:55.079
Arc that's beautiful.
904
00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:58.679
US men's first black director of the honorable Venturacy Gibson.
905
00:51:58.760 --> 00:52:00.960
Thank you for taking some time. I'm out to share
906
00:52:01.039 --> 00:52:04.000
this amazing accomplishment here on the BI in. This is
907
00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:06.599
Doug Davis. You're listening to the Black Information Network.
908
00:52:06.760 --> 00:52:09.760
Great stuff as always, Doug, and thank you, and that's
909
00:52:09.800 --> 00:52:12.960
our program for this week. For more on these stories.
910
00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:16.599
Listen to the Black Information Network on the free iHeartRadio
911
00:52:16.639 --> 00:52:20.599
app or log on to binnews dot com for all
912
00:52:20.639 --> 00:52:24.400
of the latest news impacting the black community. Also be
913
00:52:24.480 --> 00:52:27.480
sure to follow us on social media at Black Information
914
00:52:27.599 --> 00:52:32.360
Network and on x at Black Infonet. I'm Mike Island,
915
00:52:32.400 --> 00:52:35.480
wishing everyone a great Sunday, and be sure to tune
916
00:52:35.519 --> 00:52:39.079
in next week at this time for another edition of
917
00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:43.440
the Black Perspective right here on the Black Information Network.
918
00:52:43.559 --> 00:52:47.119
It's not easy being a father. We don't always have
919
00:52:47.239 --> 00:52:50.159
the luxury of doing what we want to do. We
920
00:52:50.199 --> 00:52:52.679
do what we have to do. We do what we
921
00:52:52.760 --> 00:52:55.880
need to do to provide for and protect our families.
922
00:52:56.960 --> 00:53:00.159
And that's what the selection is about for me, as
923
00:53:00.199 --> 00:53:03.960
the results won't just affect my life, they'll affect my kids.
924
00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:09.360
So as a father this November, it's my duty to
925
00:53:09.440 --> 00:53:10.000
step up.
926
00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:15.239
Step up now at vote dot gov. That's vote dot goov.
927
00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:20.000
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
928
00:53:20.039 --> 00:53:24.000
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
929
00:53:24.039 --> 00:53:27.559
of BN and its founding partners and employees.
930
00:53:27.760 --> 00:53:31.000
I'm Moe Kelly on the BIN with your two minute warning.
931
00:53:31.159 --> 00:53:34.159
The band Aerosmith was inducted into the Rock and Roll
932
00:53:34.159 --> 00:53:36.960
Hall of Fame in two thousand and one. Its lead singer,
933
00:53:37.039 --> 00:53:39.880
Steven Tyler, is known the world over, and more than
934
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:42.519
just a few jokes have been made about the size
935
00:53:42.519 --> 00:53:45.199
of his lips over the years. His daughter, Live is
936
00:53:45.239 --> 00:53:48.519
an accomplished actress in her own right. While searching her
937
00:53:48.559 --> 00:53:52.079
family's roots, Live found out that she is part Black,
938
00:53:52.239 --> 00:53:55.480
and listen when she breaks the news to her father.
939
00:53:55.519 --> 00:53:58.360
Hell, I'm so excited that you came all the way
940
00:53:58.400 --> 00:54:00.760
here to be with me so I could share with you.
941
00:54:01.159 --> 00:54:05.559
We've always talked about your Italian side of all musicians,
942
00:54:05.599 --> 00:54:09.039
but you never knew about your mom's side. That was
943
00:54:09.079 --> 00:54:12.280
a mystery. So we traced the family tree back to
944
00:54:12.400 --> 00:54:16.519
my four times great grandfather, Robert Elliott, who is your
945
00:54:16.719 --> 00:54:23.159
great great great grandfather. Robert Elliott was part African American.
946
00:54:23.960 --> 00:54:30.480
I knew it. I knew it, Thank you God. I
947
00:54:30.519 --> 00:54:33.960
always felt akin to to to black people.
948
00:54:34.760 --> 00:54:36.559
Always did you know it?
949
00:54:36.679 --> 00:54:38.599
I had no idea, but I mean I felt it
950
00:54:38.679 --> 00:54:39.280
my whole life.
951
00:54:39.559 --> 00:54:45.400
Oh amazing. They sort of think that Robert Elliott Senior
952
00:54:45.599 --> 00:54:50.119
might have been an indentured servant. Wow, he or was
953
00:54:50.159 --> 00:54:52.000
in the War of eighteen twelve.
954
00:54:52.440 --> 00:54:54.159
Yeah, and he was a drummer.
955
00:54:54.519 --> 00:54:57.920
Oh my god.
956
00:54:57.719 --> 00:54:58.280
That's too good.
957
00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:02.000
And you were a drummer for was that your first instrument?
958
00:55:03.000 --> 00:55:06.679
So then Robert Elliott had a son named George Washington Elliott,
959
00:55:06.920 --> 00:55:10.760
and we found that he had enlisted in the Civil
960
00:55:10.760 --> 00:55:14.239
War and he signed up as a white man.
961
00:55:14.440 --> 00:55:16.760
Well, I guess this mean Steven that live can now
962
00:55:16.840 --> 00:55:19.840
come to the cookout or not. I'm mo Kelly at
963
00:55:19.880 --> 00:55:22.719
mister mo Kelly on social media and that's your two
964
00:55:22.760 --> 00:55:26.119
minute warning on the Black Information Network.
965
00:55:26.519 --> 00:55:29.960
The Third at Marshall College Fund or TMCF, is helping
966
00:55:30.039 --> 00:55:33.639
black students in the black college community achieve their dreams.
967
00:55:33.920 --> 00:55:36.559
Students like Brandon Smith, who is the first college to
968
00:55:36.599 --> 00:55:37.880
graduate in his family.
969
00:55:38.079 --> 00:55:40.199
It's a lot of pressure, but when you get through
970
00:55:40.239 --> 00:55:43.039
and you get to the other side, you didn't feel
971
00:55:43.039 --> 00:55:46.079
like you know, you're that person to your family where
972
00:55:46.519 --> 00:55:48.480
they can look at you and believe that you know,
973
00:55:48.559 --> 00:55:51.599
these things can be done even though they haven't been before.
974
00:55:51.760 --> 00:55:56.000
After graduating from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
975
00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:59.119
in May, Brandon now works as a global security and
976
00:55:59.199 --> 00:56:03.800
investigation associate at Fidelity Investments in Dallas, Texas. He gives
977
00:56:03.840 --> 00:56:07.239
partial credit for his success to the TMCF, which gave
978
00:56:07.320 --> 00:56:09.679
him a fifteen thousand dollars scholarship.
979
00:56:09.960 --> 00:56:13.519
That scholarship in the programs that I've been able to
980
00:56:13.639 --> 00:56:17.400
be a part of through TMCF have significantly increased and
981
00:56:17.480 --> 00:56:21.199
assisted me in graduating college not only you know, financially,
982
00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:23.880
but also like the networks I've built have made my
983
00:56:24.000 --> 00:56:29.119
college journey super smooth, stress free, and super insightful to
984
00:56:29.159 --> 00:56:29.599
the future.
985
00:56:29.760 --> 00:56:32.880
The Free Application for Student Aid are FATA was also
986
00:56:32.960 --> 00:56:35.400
instrumental in Brandon's college experience.
987
00:56:35.840 --> 00:56:39.039
Being black, students were always.
988
00:56:38.719 --> 00:56:40.920
Thinking that, you know, I can't pay for college, I
989
00:56:40.960 --> 00:56:44.280
can't go well, the FATA definitely opens doors to a
990
00:56:44.280 --> 00:56:47.079
lot of funding from various places, and a lot of
991
00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:52.360
institutions do require you to do your FASTA because without
992
00:56:52.360 --> 00:56:55.360
your FASCA, most companies also don't allow you to get
993
00:56:55.480 --> 00:56:57.599
outside scholarship opportunities.
994
00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:00.840
Brandon is now helping the TMCF and there finish fasta
995
00:57:00.960 --> 00:57:03.960
Find Your Future campaign which aims to get black college
996
00:57:03.960 --> 00:57:07.719
students to submit their application as soon as possible. He says,
997
00:57:07.760 --> 00:57:10.639
completing the FAFSA is worth the time and energy it
998
00:57:10.679 --> 00:57:11.599
takes to do so.
999
00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:16.360
It's a super easy form that has a lifelong benefit.
1000
00:57:16.519 --> 00:57:19.480
It prevents you from having to pay back thirty forty
1001
00:57:19.639 --> 00:57:23.719
fifty thousand dollars in debt by just simply completing that
1002
00:57:23.880 --> 00:57:24.719
faster forms.
1003
00:57:24.920 --> 00:57:26.079
Do your faster.
1004
00:57:26.400 --> 00:57:28.480
It will change your life.
1005
00:57:28.840 --> 00:57:32.239
Visit finish fasta dot com and get your FAFSA in today.
1006
00:57:32.480 --> 00:57:33.840
You'll be glad you did.
1007
00:57:34.840 --> 00:57:39.239
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
1008
00:57:39.280 --> 00:57:43.280
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
1009
00:57:43.320 --> 00:57:46.840
of BIN and its founding partners and employees.
1010
00:57:47.079 --> 00:57:50.039
I'm mo Kelly on the BN with your two minute warning,
1011
00:57:50.159 --> 00:57:52.719
I'm not sure any minds will be changed from Kamala
1012
00:57:52.719 --> 00:57:55.639
Harris's interview with Brett bhar on Fox News. But it
1013
00:57:55.760 --> 00:57:59.000
was riveting television. It was contentious, and Bear was at
1014
00:57:59.039 --> 00:58:04.000
times completely disrespectful, not allowing Harris to finish her answers. Ultimately,
1015
00:58:04.119 --> 00:58:07.960
Harris demonstrated command presidents and did not wilt when Fox
1016
00:58:08.039 --> 00:58:11.280
tried to clean up Trump's statements on the enemy within
1017
00:58:11.559 --> 00:58:14.760
by not showing the actual clip of him saying it
1018
00:58:14.920 --> 00:58:15.679
bait and switch.
1019
00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:19.400
We asked that question to the former president today, Harris
1020
00:58:19.440 --> 00:58:23.280
Faulkner had a town hall and this is how he responded.
1021
00:58:23.440 --> 00:58:24.559
I heard about that.
1022
00:58:24.679 --> 00:58:27.800
They were saying I was like threatening, I'm not threatening anybody.
1023
00:58:28.199 --> 00:58:31.840
They're the ones doing the threatening. They do phony investigations.
1024
00:58:31.960 --> 00:58:35.559
I've been investigated more than Alphonse Capponi was the greatest action.
1025
00:58:35.960 --> 00:58:37.559
No, it's true, we don't but think of it.
1026
00:58:37.559 --> 00:58:40.440
It's called weaponization of government. It's a terrible thing.
1027
00:58:40.960 --> 00:58:44.199
Right, I'm sorry, and with all due respect, that clip
1028
00:58:44.360 --> 00:58:47.199
was not what he has been saying about the enemy
1029
00:58:47.280 --> 00:58:50.599
within that he is repeated when he's speaking about the
1030
00:58:50.599 --> 00:58:51.360
American people.
1031
00:58:51.400 --> 00:58:52.760
That's not what you just showed.
1032
00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:53.519
He was asking.
1033
00:58:53.599 --> 00:58:55.800
No, no, no, that's not what you just showed.
1034
00:58:55.840 --> 00:58:58.719
In all fairness and respect to you, the question that
1035
00:58:58.760 --> 00:58:59.960
we asked him, he didn't show.
1036
00:59:00.480 --> 00:59:02.079
And here's the bottom line.
1037
00:59:02.159 --> 00:59:04.920
He has repeated it many times, and you and I
1038
00:59:05.079 --> 00:59:07.920
both know that, and you and I both know that.
1039
00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:10.679
He has talked about turning the American military on the
1040
00:59:10.719 --> 00:59:11.599
American people.
1041
00:59:11.719 --> 00:59:13.800
He has talked about going.
1042
00:59:13.440 --> 00:59:16.639
After people who are engaged in peaceful protests. He has
1043
00:59:16.960 --> 00:59:21.039
talked about locking people up because they disagree with him.
1044
00:59:21.079 --> 00:59:24.880
This is a democracy and an inner democracy.
1045
00:59:25.679 --> 00:59:28.440
The president of the United States, in the United States
1046
00:59:28.440 --> 00:59:32.639
of America should be willing to be able to handle
1047
00:59:33.320 --> 00:59:37.400
criticism without saying he'd lock people up for doing it.
1048
00:59:37.719 --> 00:59:40.480
Well done, I'm mo' kelly at mister mo' kelly on
1049
00:59:40.519 --> 00:59:43.239
social media and that's you. Two minute warning on the
1050
00:59:43.280 --> 00:59:45.280
Black Information Network
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.120
If my voice didn't matter, people wouldn't be trying so
2
00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:06.200
hard to silence me. And if my vote didn't matter,
3
00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.599
they wouldn't work so hard to take it away. So
4
00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.439
you know, on I'm voting this November because I know
5
00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:13.400
they don't want me to.
6
00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.640
Your voice is powerful, your voice matters. Don't let your
7
00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.559
voice be silenced. To register, confirm your voting status, or
8
00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:25.600
get information about voting in your area, visit vote dot gov.
9
00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.000
That's vote dot goov a message from the Perception Institute
10
00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:31.800
and the Black Information Network.
11
00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:35.840
It's Sunday, October twentieth and On today's show, Andrea Coleman
12
00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.000
talks to Mark Murrial about the passing of a New
13
00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:43.479
Orleans and civil rights legend. Vanessa Tyler talks basketball with
14
00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.560
some pioneer legends of the court. Morganwood talks to political
15
00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:51.920
strategist Nina Smith. Esther Dillard talks with the mayor of Enfield,
16
00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:56.159
North Carolina and the founding principle of Blackmail Voters Project
17
00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:59.640
mon Dale Robinson, and Doug Davis talks to the first
18
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.960
Africa and American US MINT Director. These stories and more
19
00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.439
are coming your way on today's program, Welcome to the
20
00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:11.480
Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
21
00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:16.040
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
22
00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.599
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
23
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:21.640
issues important to the Black community.
24
00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.840
Good Sunday to everyone, and welcome to another edition of
25
00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:28.640
The Black Perspective on the Black Information Network. The city
26
00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:31.480
of New Orleans and others are mourning the passing of
27
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:35.519
a civil rights legend. Civil Heidel Moreal passed away on
28
00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:39.840
September fourth, Distinguished as New orleans first Black first Lady,
29
00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.599
missus Morel was also a civil rights leader. Her son,
30
00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:47.519
Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League,
31
00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:52.200
recently spoke with The Bins Andrea Coleman about his mother's
32
00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:55.200
life and how she helped to reshape the racial power
33
00:01:55.239 --> 00:02:10.159
structure in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.
34
00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:14.719
I'm a mama's boy at heart and in Seoul, and
35
00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.719
my mother was my mother, my confidant, and my friend.
36
00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:21.919
Mark Morriel's mother was also an exceptional woman.
37
00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:26.159
She was an incredible mother, an incredible wife, a teacher,
38
00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:31.000
an educator, a civil rights activist, a city activist, a
39
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:35.280
documentary movie producer, an author. The list of things she
40
00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:36.719
did was endless.
41
00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.199
The daughter of a doctor and a school teacher, Simple
42
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.759
Highdale Morriel grew up among New Orleans's black upper middle
43
00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:45.960
class and was friends with children like Andrew Young, who
44
00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:48.520
would grow up to become an ambassador to the un
45
00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:52.840
and mayor of Atlanta. During her college years at Boston University,
46
00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.280
she met a dynamic young man by the name of
47
00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:56.800
Martin Luther King Junior.
48
00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.039
The black students who were at schools in Boston were
49
00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.319
very much a commune, and she was part of that
50
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.919
community and always said that when they were in school,
51
00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:08.639
they would go to listen to Martin preach at various churches,
52
00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:12.719
and she always said he, even at that stage and age,
53
00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.120
was an incredibly gifted preacher orator.
54
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.919
Somewhere along the way of what could be called a
55
00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:23.560
privileged black life, Sybil Hidale Moriel developed a heart for service,
56
00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.280
which her son says was indicative by the Jim Crow
57
00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:29.479
era in which she lived what led to her being
58
00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:30.639
so committed to others.
59
00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.879
Growing up in the thirties and forties, the black community
60
00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:36.759
in New Orleans was very self contained, you know, which
61
00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.360
meant that you could live in a very large and
62
00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:43.599
somewhat independent black community have very little contact like Lenians.
63
00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.759
You know, they were black doctors. There were black insurance companies,
64
00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:50.800
they were black owned grocery stores, black newspapers, black social clubs,
65
00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:54.439
black civic clubs, black churches. And you could grow up
66
00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.719
in a community that, even though it was segregated, was
67
00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:02.639
self supporting and nurturing. Because her father was a physician.
68
00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.560
They had a nice house. They always had food on
69
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.280
the tape, right. They were able to dress nicely by
70
00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.360
the standards of the times. And my grandfather, who had
71
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.879
grown up as a grandson of a slave and the
72
00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.600
son of a sharecropper, was able to by virtue his
73
00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:21.319
profession as a position and building a black insurance company
74
00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.639
to half by the standards of the time, some material wealth.
75
00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:26.800
I mean my grandfather, I never knew him to drive
76
00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.399
any other kind of carb the Cadillac. Always doing to
77
00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:33.600
wear really nice suits and nice clothes. You know. My
78
00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:37.000
grandparents were pecably dressed. They had a very nice house.
79
00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:40.319
Grandmother always said, do not go in my front room. Boy,
80
00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:42.199
that was my grandmother. That's the house.
81
00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:46.079
Don't go ahead, there's a company, but your diad going
82
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:49.399
and you go through the side the day of the
83
00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:54.319
back and so I think, notwithstanding that, they were aware
84
00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:56.079
that the city was segregated.
85
00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.720
And of course her childhood friend was Andrew Young. Andrew
86
00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:03.160
young father was a dentist, My grandfather was a doctor.
87
00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.519
They both went to Howard. They were very good friends.
88
00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:11.120
Andrew Young's mother and my grandmother, Daisy Young and my
89
00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:15.040
grandmother Dora Hyghdel were very best of friends. And those
90
00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:19.879
types of black communities existed in Atlanta and New Orleans,
91
00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.720
and in Washington, d c. And Memphis and a lot
92
00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:26.439
of places where there was a self containment. Even though
93
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:28.959
you were living in segregation, you could live in the
94
00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.279
community and you didn't have to have a lot of
95
00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:34.160
contact with the white people, so you were spared the
96
00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:37.600
daily indignity is unless you were a black person that
97
00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:40.360
worked for white people. And so a lot of black
98
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.000
people still worked for white people or they worked in
99
00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.639
a white institution in those days. You know, they may
100
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.319
have worked on the docks, or they may have worked
101
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.560
in cleaning other people's homes, so you still had that.
102
00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:54.639
But for the children growing up, they went to an
103
00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.879
all black school, they were in all black clubs. They
104
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.560
you know, there were no parks and playgrounds for them
105
00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.399
to go to. There were no fools to swim in.
106
00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.120
There were no amusement parks, so that had to make
107
00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:11.800
their own world, and that was a segregated world in
108
00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.240
the life of New Orleans. So my parents grew up
109
00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:18.240
committed to civil rights, and in those days it meant
110
00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.079
being committed to integration. And therefore, when it came time
111
00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.879
for us to go to school, we went to integrated schools,
112
00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.399
recently integrated schools, and we suffered at a young age
113
00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:33.000
the indignities have called the n word of being chased,
114
00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:38.399
being disparaged. You know, that side of the early days
115
00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.720
of integration created a toughness and a resilience in you.
116
00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:45.680
I got in a lot of little fights, you know,
117
00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:49.240
it just was the way it was. People call you
118
00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:51.240
a name, you defended yourself.
119
00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:51.839
Right.
120
00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:55.160
That was the world we grew up in, and the
121
00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:58.839
parents pushed us because we were like on that cutting
122
00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:02.519
edge of change, schools, being integrated, being able to go
123
00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:06.759
to integrated restaurants. So my parents made it a point
124
00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:09.959
to take us out to places that were recently integrated.
125
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.759
Right while we lived in our neighborhood, which Punchtrain Park
126
00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:18.560
was an all black neighborhood, we ventured beyond the neighborhood
127
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:21.240
to go to the integrated schools. And that was the
128
00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:24.279
reality of the early days of integration. There was a
129
00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:28.240
hope that those early frictions and tensions would level out.
130
00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:33.000
We know now racism does not die easily, and racism
131
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.319
seems to be refueled and given new oxygen, and that
132
00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:39.079
you take steps forward and take steps backward.
133
00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:44.439
What was key to the change they made because just
134
00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:49.360
looking at the list of accomplishments, your mom, after being
135
00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:52.399
denied by the League of Women Voters in New Orleans,
136
00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:56.319
she founded the Louisiana League for Good Government. An author said,
137
00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:01.360
your father was his own radical revolution. Number first is
138
00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:03.720
like incredible. He was the first black graduate of the
139
00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.319
Louisiana State University Law School. He became the first black
140
00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.279
person since reconstruction to be elected to the Louisiana State Legislature.
141
00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:14.120
He was the first black assistant US attorney in New Orleans,
142
00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:17.399
the first black juvenile court judge there, the first black
143
00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.879
on the state's fourth Circuit of Court of Appeals.
144
00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:21.839
You're like almost falling.
145
00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.800
Asleep from this list. And this was all your father
146
00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.680
and your mother and what they accomplished.
147
00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.360
They were activists and they were pushing and they were
148
00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.279
determined and they would not be denied. And they were
149
00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:37.159
part of a generation of people who were just like them.
150
00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:42.000
They were pushing to knock the doors down. They understood
151
00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.519
how to work within the system and outside of the
152
00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:48.879
system simultaneous. They knew how to challenge the system. He
153
00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.720
had worked within the system. You know my mother when
154
00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:55.039
she started the Louisiana Legal Good Government, Yes, and it
155
00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:58.679
was an enormously successful organization. I remember they'd have these
156
00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:02.399
luncheons every year and they'd have speakers in from Barbara
157
00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:06.279
Jordan and Shirley Chisholm and all these great speakers would
158
00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.200
come in and how you'd go to the lunch and
159
00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.360
it seemed like there were two thousand people there. I
160
00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.919
remember the meetings of the Louisiana League and Good Government
161
00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:16.679
Board meetings in our kitchen, at our kitchen table. I mean,
162
00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:18.679
they met in people's homes and a lot of the
163
00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:21.879
women who were involved were my mother's friends who were teachers.
164
00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.399
You know, it was a lot of people they were teachers,
165
00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.240
They were members of the teachers' union. They organized. I
166
00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:32.039
remember going to voter registration rallies and motorcades right after
167
00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.519
the voting Rights Act. You know, my mother in law.
168
00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.120
They said, we have to, you know, help register people
169
00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.600
and help people get active and involved in the civic
170
00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:42.159
affairs of the city. So it was a time of challenge,
171
00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.639
but also a time of excitement. Right new found rights,
172
00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.480
new earned rights, and they were simply on a mission.
173
00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:53.440
Your remarks at her service, you gave her credit for
174
00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:57.600
your father's success. If I can quote you correctly, I
175
00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:01.080
think you said something like Dutch who's your was a
176
00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:03.720
bad boy, and he really was a bad boy, but
177
00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:07.399
he wouldn't have been anything without your mom.
178
00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:08.879
Explain that.
179
00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:11.159
How did she influence his success?
180
00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:13.919
I think in a lot of ways, my mother had
181
00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.879
entrained connections and part of the community that my father
182
00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.240
may not have. My mother had an innate common sense.
183
00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:23.799
She was a great read of people. I told the
184
00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:27.679
story of my father's first campaign when he was struggling
185
00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:30.840
to raise money and he trying to organize his fundraiser
186
00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:32.799
and the people who were going to organize the fundraiser
187
00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:35.679
hadn't really done anything to organize the fundraiser. When he
188
00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.279
came home frustrated, she pretty much said, get out of
189
00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.039
the way, let me kind of take this thing over,
190
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:44.320
and I'll put the whole thing together right, and I
191
00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:47.559
remember that very distinctly. He was very frustrated. So she
192
00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.720
stepped in, you know. She was incredibly supportive, and she
193
00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:53.519
knew people that he didn't know, and of course he
194
00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:57.360
had connections, you know. And then she was a multitasker.
195
00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:03.120
She had the ability to raise children and have a job,
196
00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:05.799
and be a mother and a wife all at the
197
00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.679
same time. She's a multitask in a way that would
198
00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.120
probably frustrate and wear most people out.
199
00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.720
How did she influence your success because you've had success
200
00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:17.840
to You've served in the Louisiana State Senate, you were
201
00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:20.000
a two time mayor of New Orleans, and then you
202
00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:23.360
went on to either be the PRESIDENCYO of the National
203
00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:24.000
Urban League.
204
00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.240
I think it's the commitment that she was always active,
205
00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:33.120
always working, always doing something that influenced me. The sense
206
00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:38.000
of wanting to be good and excellent at things influenced me.
207
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:42.559
I think the sense that you owe an obligation to
208
00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.600
the black community if you have opportunity, and we got
209
00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:51.480
the benefit of a good education, and with that, it
210
00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.159
was the sense of obligation that you had right and
211
00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.399
responsibility that you had to the community, to the notion
212
00:11:57.480 --> 00:12:01.240
of civil rights, that living a selfish material life. To
213
00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.600
my parents, that was sinful to just pursue materiality, you know,
214
00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:09.200
it was corrosive to them. It was empty to them.
215
00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.240
It was like, you got to be about something. You
216
00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.080
got to stand for something. No matter what you have,
217
00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.200
you got to stay we have nothing or something, you
218
00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.240
got to stand for something.
219
00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:18.519
What does it feel like to be a member of
220
00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:21.600
a family with such rich history. I mean, many of
221
00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.679
the accomplishments are historic.
222
00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:28.200
So I feel proud. But my family's extraordinary. But we're
223
00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.639
also ordinary. That's what our parents taught us. You were
224
00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.120
going to have your feet flat on the ground. You
225
00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:38.000
are not going to be arrogant, big headed. They were remarkable,
226
00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:43.279
but they were also you know, like their contemporaries and friends,
227
00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:47.039
you know. My sense is that they were all like this, right.
228
00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:51.720
They were people who tasted lived in segregation and then
229
00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:55.519
lived in integration. They lived before the Civil Rights Act,
230
00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.519
you know, and it's a rarity. There's only one generation
231
00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:01.799
that can have that. We don't have that do I mean?
232
00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.200
I remember segregation as a little boy, the bus on
233
00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.159
the screen on the bus, the colored only bathrooms. I
234
00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.480
remember it as a little You know till us five
235
00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:13.200
six years old as a young boy. Then it sort
236
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.320
of became a different reality. That's why that generation they
237
00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:22.519
saw experience felt and new segregation. Also, you know, you
238
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:28.120
could go back and they had grandparents that lived in slavery.
239
00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:32.240
So the connectivity they had, they could touch back to
240
00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:35.559
a grandparent who lived in slavery and reached forward and
241
00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.399
they were living in an integration. It's a unique generation
242
00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:41.200
of people, you know, the black people, the people born
243
00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:43.919
in the you know, the teens, the twenties, the thirties
244
00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:47.879
who were old enough to have lived in segregation as
245
00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:51.039
young adults, so they were conscious of it. But then
246
00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:54.720
they were part of a new post civil rights you know,
247
00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:57.320
integrated America, more integrated in America.
248
00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.600
How do you hope history will remember your mother.
249
00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:04.200
I hope she will be remembered as a good, decent,
250
00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:09.879
unselfish change agent. And my mother was extremely beloved, you know,
251
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.879
she just had that way. And a lot of times
252
00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:14.720
when I campaign, I'd.
253
00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.279
Run into people, you know, older than me who'd say, oh,
254
00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.080
your mother was my second grade teacher. You know, I
255
00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.200
run into people from time to time you said, oh,
256
00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.399
you know, your grandfather delivered right, and that was very
257
00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:27.919
touching to run it to people. I still run it
258
00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:30.600
to some from time to time, who said, your mother
259
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.440
taught me in second grade. Your mother was my you know,
260
00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.720
my counselor at Xavier University. And so you don't even
261
00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:40.159
know all the people she touched because she didn't talk
262
00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:40.960
about all of them.
263
00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:41.960
It's just who she was.
264
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.759
It seems like we also wanted to add that Ernest Moril,
265
00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.639
Mark's late father, became the first black mayor of New
266
00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.720
Orleans in nineteen seventy eight and served two terms, and
267
00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:55.720
that means his lovely wife, Sybuheidel Moriel, became the city's
268
00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:59.159
first black first lady. The family asked anyone wanting to
269
00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.279
honor the memory of Missus Moriel to consider making a
270
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:06.360
donation to the Xavier University Fund, the Almostead Research Center,
271
00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.519
where Missus Moriel, her late husband, and Mark's papers are
272
00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:13.279
being held, and or the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp, which
273
00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:16.799
works with as firing jazz artists. In closing by in
274
00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:19.759
since its condolences to the Moriel family.
275
00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:21.200
And the New Orleans community in.
276
00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.840
The passing of such an extraordinary black woman.
277
00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:27.360
Mike, thank you, Andrea. If you would like to learn
278
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.240
more about civil heidel Morele. You can find her memoir
279
00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:36.360
entitled A Witness to Change at most major booksellers. Are
280
00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.600
you a basketball fan? The players who grace the court
281
00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:43.200
today are far different than those who bounced the ball yesterday,
282
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:47.360
but remembering who they are and what they sacrificed is
283
00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:50.879
part of Black history that should not be forgotten. The
284
00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:55.440
Black Information Networks Vanessa Tyler reports on the memories.
285
00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.120
A bound to experience as a full court press of
286
00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:07.559
the pioneers of basketball, wrapped in a love story.
287
00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.879
We were loving all day long. We held hands while
288
00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.639
we slept. I've done a mold of his hand. He
289
00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.320
was a very special man. He had great integrity, and
290
00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.240
they just don't come like it. They broke the mold
291
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:25.279
and I was fortunate, God bless me to have him
292
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:25.919
in my life.
293
00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:31.080
Her love basketball pioneer Carl Green and the tribute he
294
00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.279
just received brought out the legends of the game.
295
00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:39.480
Jared Monree start.
296
00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:43.000
There was a time back in the nineteen seventies when
297
00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.840
the crowd would go wild over the moves of Earl
298
00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:49.679
the Pearl Monroe. On this day in his hometown of Harlem,
299
00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:53.320
New York. He was not under the unusually warm fall
300
00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.559
day to talk about himself. This Hall of Famer was
301
00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:00.879
here to honor his friend, Carl Green, a former member
302
00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:02.960
of the Harlem Globetrotters.
303
00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:07.839
Call has been a good person for a long long time.
304
00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.440
And you know he went to my alma model instance
305
00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:16.920
alum for a while and we kind of like clutched
306
00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.799
onto each other for you know, early on, and we've
307
00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:24.200
been very good, you know friends. You know, you think
308
00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:28.319
of us as pioneers, and pioneers weren't the ones who
309
00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.119
really reaped the benefics of what it all got to be.
310
00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:33.880
So you know, here we are now, and you know,
311
00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.319
guys are reaping their benefics. And this was just one
312
00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:37.880
of those.
313
00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.440
Things pioneers did, put in the work, endured the disrespect
314
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.519
and the blatant racism. What were those times.
315
00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:49.480
Like, Well, when he came up, there weren't any opportunities.
316
00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:52.960
It was the Globetrotters because you couldn't play in the league.
317
00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:57.440
They didn't have blacks in the league. So his whole
318
00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:02.000
basketball career was built around the Globe Trotters. In the
319
00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:06.240
Eastern League. They didn't allow black guys to play in
320
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.559
the league. It was a tough situation, but he weathered
321
00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.480
it and came through to where he is today.
322
00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.000
That's Tom Hoover, former center for teams like the New
323
00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:19.920
York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and more. In the nineteen sixties,
324
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.799
he also graced the court for teams in the American
325
00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:27.720
Basketball Association like Denver Rockets, Houston Mavericks. We heard from
326
00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:31.400
him at the top. Carl Green was also his friend.
327
00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.240
And what does his legacy mean for the ballers today?
328
00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.920
Well, if they know the history, it helps. But the
329
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.839
problem is they don't really understand the history because when
330
00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:47.000
you're making twenty five thirty million dollars a year, you
331
00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:53.039
don't care anything about anybody else except myself. And as
332
00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.799
you see in this world today, every kid is on
333
00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:58.319
the phone. So what do they know. They don't even read.
334
00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.079
You get this center of a little bit of a
335
00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:04.319
broken heart. As I talked to these giants of black
336
00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.680
men about the past, the present, the future.
337
00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:12.599
Does it hurt it's life because man is indifferent to
338
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:13.519
his own self.
339
00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:16.759
I'm not a happy camper today because it's a sad
340
00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:22.880
day that we're missing a man. Okay, Carl Green, Floyd Lane,
341
00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:27.000
Hilton White, Too many guys that meant to us, and
342
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.079
people always say, people too many guys that mented us, okay,
343
00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:33.680
that are not here anymore. Who's taking up the slack?
344
00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:37.799
Who's taking up the slack? Where are our black leaders
345
00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:41.480
at now? Because they led us, Okay, they mented us,
346
00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.720
they advised us, and they gave us strength, They gave
347
00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:50.319
us encouragement, they gave us confidence. Okay, we had loyalty
348
00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:55.000
even though calling from Harlem. Okay, he was a trotter
349
00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:59.680
and his message was and I hear this from other
350
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.200
glob trotters now they said Carl Breen was serious about
351
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:04.559
his game.
352
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.160
That's Nate tiny archibald. And if you don't know, you
353
00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.279
need to ask somebody. In nineteen ninety sixt he was
354
00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:14.839
considered one of the fifty greatest players in NBA history.
355
00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:18.240
He didn't play with the Globe Trotters that due to entertainment.
356
00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.680
He played with the Globe trotters that wanted the beach
357
00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:23.319
your behind and win games and stuff like that. So
358
00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:28.200
he was always serious about his demeanor, serious about building
359
00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:33.440
confidence and loyalty to anybody where he went. Okay, very
360
00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.680
soft spoken, very didn't say a whole lot, but when
361
00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:38.079
he did, you listened.
362
00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.519
See there was something different about Carl. He was the
363
00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:45.720
part of the team that didn't do much of the
364
00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:49.079
antics the globe Trotters are known for. He could do them.
365
00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:52.880
His approach was different, says his wife Judith Green.
366
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.839
But Carl was the baller and that's you know, that's
367
00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.319
who he was. He could do some tricks now, but
368
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:04.559
he was a boiler and I you know, to hear
369
00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:10.079
them referred to as clowns because honestly, that NBA exists
370
00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.759
because of them. In the beginning, the Globetrotters were the
371
00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:19.599
first on the billing, and after the crowd would see
372
00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:22.960
the Globetrotters, they would leave. So they had to switch
373
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.119
it so that the Globetrotters were come at the end
374
00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:31.400
and the NBA players paid, you know, before them. That
375
00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:33.480
was the only way they could get the crowd to stay.
376
00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:35.720
And also, you know, at that time there was a
377
00:21:35.799 --> 00:21:40.000
quota system, and so the best ball players played for
378
00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:41.359
the Harlem Globetrotters.
379
00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:44.880
Carl Green died last year at the age of eighty nine,
380
00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:47.759
and on this sunny day, those who knew and loved
381
00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.960
him gathered in Harlem to honor him in one of
382
00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:54.880
the best ways they knew how On the.
383
00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:56.480
Three only okay, no Holo.
384
00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:10.599
Shook a street renaming forevermore.
385
00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:13.319
The corner of one hundred and thirteenth Street in Saint
386
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:15.400
Nicholas Avenue in Harlem is.
387
00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:16.279
Now Carl C.
388
00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:20.240
Green Way. Hear more from these legends of the game.
389
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:24.039
And in the end, this is a love story as
390
00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:28.000
only as Carl Green's wife Judith Green could tell the
391
00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:32.039
rest of this story on my podcast, Blackland. Hear it
392
00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.799
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
393
00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:40.880
I'm Vanessa Tyler with the Black Perspective. Mike back to you.
394
00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:44.799
Thanks Vanessa. The Black Information Networks Morgan Wood caught up
395
00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:49.039
with political strategist Nina Smith at the Democratic National Convention
396
00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:51.599
and she shared her thoughts on what it will take
397
00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:56.240
for Vice President Kamala Harris to win this upcoming presidential election.
398
00:22:56.519 --> 00:22:58.759
Joining me right now on the Black Information Network is
399
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:02.200
Nina Smith, a Democratic strategists and we're here at the
400
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:06.799
DNC in Chicago. It's the final night Vice President Kamala
401
00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:10.680
Harris is expected to accept the party's nomination. Nina, thank
402
00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:11.640
you so much for joining me.
403
00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:13.920
Thank you for having me. I'm really glad to be here.
404
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:17.319
So talk to me about the strategy. What is the
405
00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:22.000
strategy you are you're the strategist. What's the strategy to
406
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:24.799
get the votes and get Vice President Harris to the
407
00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:26.200
finish line and in the White House.
408
00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:28.599
Well, I think it's most important for us to continue
409
00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.319
what we've been doing, which is engaging people where they
410
00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:34.680
are and meeting them where they are, having real conversations
411
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.920
about how to improve their lives right and I think
412
00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:41.200
that's something that the Democratic Party is best position to do.
413
00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:41.799
Right now.
414
00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.960
We have the infrastructure, we have folks who have been
415
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:50.039
on doors since March. You know, we have gotten really
416
00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:53.880
smart about how to reach voters, and we've learned so
417
00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:57.039
much from twenty twenty in terms of like turning out
418
00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:00.440
people who allow of folks send to overlook. And so
419
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:04.559
I think we're definitely ready to have real conversations and
420
00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:07.519
do so in very strategic ways because we have now
421
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.440
the technology and tools to do so. And now we
422
00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.880
also have a candidate with an excellent record that we
423
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:17.279
can run on and really help people shape their you know,
424
00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.640
their idea what their future can look like under her leadership.
425
00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:24.119
What is the idea of the future. I mean, you're
426
00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:29.400
talking about against strategy and different line items and different topics,
427
00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:33.680
key items, key issues, whether it be women's reproductive health,
428
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:38.119
whether it be gun reform, gun violence. What do you
429
00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:41.160
think the future looks like with this administration?
430
00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.920
With this administration, you know, the future looks like that.
431
00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:49.960
It's a future where our freedoms are protected. It's a
432
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.279
future where you know, we can talk about issues and disagree,
433
00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:58.680
but also find compromise and a way forward. It's a
434
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:03.200
future where you know, folks who you know love who
435
00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:06.559
they love, or folks who you know are making very
436
00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:09.279
hard and some of the most difficult healthcare decisions in
437
00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:13.599
their lifetimes can do so without you know, their government interfering,
438
00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:16.799
you know. And so that's why I think that future
439
00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:20.519
vision around freedom is just so perfect, right, because that's
440
00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:23.960
what we're all looking for in our individual lives. And
441
00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:26.759
I think that's something that every American can relate to.
442
00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:30.440
Speaking of relating you yourself, a black woman in leadership,
443
00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.880
looking forward to having a black woman in leadership, chief
444
00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:37.960
commander in office. Talk to me about women in leadership.
445
00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:43.279
You know, there have been findings and surveys that show that,
446
00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:46.720
you know, there's been a decline in trust in women's leadership,
447
00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:48.599
and that's because it's difficult.
448
00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:49.240
That said.
449
00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:53.960
More of us. As we attain these positions, I think
450
00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:57.119
the world gets used to us and sees just how
451
00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:00.240
powerful we are and what we can do right. And
452
00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:02.759
I think that's what's made this moment so unique. People
453
00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:06.400
are hungry for something new, and this is new. Women
454
00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:08.960
don't usually get access to that type of power, and
455
00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:12.240
now we have it. And I think it's a great
456
00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:17.519
opportunity for people to understand how the unique experiences we
457
00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:20.240
bring to the table that can really transform this country
458
00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:24.079
into something that they've never seen before. Your message to voters,
459
00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:28.680
you know, I think to voters, I hope you take
460
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.880
a hard look at the record of Democrats and what
461
00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:34.720
we've been up to over the last four years. We've
462
00:26:34.759 --> 00:26:37.880
been fighting every single day for working families. We've been
463
00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.480
fighting every single day to expand opportunity for more folks,
464
00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:44.799
to protect folks and their freedoms, and you know, you
465
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.880
can expect more of the same and for us to
466
00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:50.279
continue having conversations about how we can grow and even
467
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:53.000
serve better. And I think that's something that it's a
468
00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:55.759
conversation we're having internally, and I think it's exciting that
469
00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:58.920
we'll potentially have the opportunity to do that externally and
470
00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:00.640
at the highest levels of path I.
471
00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:03.640
Love to execute on those plans. Thank you so much, Nina,
472
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:04.680
no problem, Thank you.
473
00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:08.079
Thanks Morgan. And now it's time for this week's segment
474
00:27:08.279 --> 00:27:11.960
of The Color Between the Lines. It's with Mondale Robinson.
475
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:15.599
He's the founding principal of the Black Male Voters Project
476
00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:19.000
and mayor of Enfield, North Carolina. He spoke to Esther
477
00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:22.359
about how black mail voters felt talked down to by
478
00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:26.319
former President Obama and others. He was a super real
479
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:29.640
talker with great facts on black men and their support
480
00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:30.400
of black women.
481
00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:34.519
Joining me is Mondale Robinson. He is the founding principal
482
00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:40.039
of Black Male Voters Project and mayor of Enfield, North Carolina.
483
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.319
Thank you, Mayor Robinson for joining us on the BION.
484
00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:46.119
Thank you for having me. I appreciate you well.
485
00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:49.519
No doubt you've seen these latest attempts by both candidates
486
00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:52.640
Trump and VP Kamala Harris to reach out to black voters,
487
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.680
and you've no doubt heard at least one polls at
488
00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:59.559
at least one in five Black men are leaning to
489
00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:03.559
a Trump. How in your opinion have both candidates done
490
00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:06.079
in the past few weeks leading up to the election
491
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:08.039
to reach out to black mail voters.
492
00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:10.519
So let me let me start.
493
00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.000
That's a two part question for me, because one part,
494
00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:18.279
I'm a political animal, so I'm super excited to see
495
00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.400
a Democratic candidate get so much and so many things, right,
496
00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:25.680
So I'm super excited about that. But as a black
497
00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:31.079
man who engages black men politically for work, and not
498
00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:34.400
just those who are college educated, not those who are
499
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:36.920
members of Divine nine, not those who are members of
500
00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:41.480
legacy organizations like the NWCP or the National Urban League,
501
00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:44.960
not those brothers, not the business owners or the wealthy
502
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:48.880
class like d ol Hughley and Steve Harvey. I'm talking
503
00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:52.519
about the brothers at the Q and Steve Harley and
504
00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:56.519
Obama are talking down to. So it happens to be
505
00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:00.000
the majority of black men. Fifty of the ninth point
506
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:02.839
six million black men that are registered to vote in
507
00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:06.440
this country have not voted in the last four federal elections.
508
00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:11.359
Not because they're misogynistic, because every candidate was not a woman, right.
509
00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:14.920
I speak to those brothers who are missing in the
510
00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:18.079
political space because the conversation is a middle class conversation
511
00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:22.079
that we have the lowest social markers of any demographic
512
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:24.640
in this country, and those social markers are the real
513
00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:26.319
suppressors of vote.
514
00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.839
When people are poored, worried about food.
515
00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:31.640
In secure and housing, voting is not a priority to
516
00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.480
them because everything they're trying to do is survive.
517
00:29:34.599 --> 00:29:35.240
They're not living.
518
00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:39.160
So VP Harris has put out a plan that includes
519
00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:44.640
providing forgivable business loans for black entrepreneurs, creating more apprenticeships
520
00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:49.000
studying sickle cell and other diseases that disproportionately affect African
521
00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:54.160
American men. And from what you just told me, I
522
00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:57.400
don't know if that is something that would appeal to
523
00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:00.680
those who you're talking about that feel like they're being
524
00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:03.680
talked down to? Do you think it appeals to those
525
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:04.279
black men?
526
00:30:04.359 --> 00:30:04.680
Are they?
527
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:06.279
Is it changing their minds?
528
00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:09.880
Yeah? Let's be clear. I mean the plan.
529
00:30:10.359 --> 00:30:13.359
No one in this political space right now is doing
530
00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:16.400
a better job talking too and being in community with
531
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:21.200
black men other than the Vice President Kamalari's uh so
532
00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:23.799
she so she's doing what she can, but the factors
533
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.400
that she's facing are bigger than her. So let me
534
00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.799
speak to part of her plan. And you know I
535
00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:30.519
had an input on that. I I I try to
536
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:34.079
assist where I can with the VP. And part of
537
00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:37.519
part of me existing is me knowing that you know
538
00:30:37.559 --> 00:30:40.720
there's there's a shortcoming of the political system. Black men
539
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.759
don't trust political actors who show up for the first
540
00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:47.519
time in political cycles asking for their vote. That is
541
00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:50.319
because of the history of America and what it looks
542
00:30:50.359 --> 00:30:53.359
like to be black man and American. I will say
543
00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:57.200
that plan has that plan has great footing as a foundation.
544
00:30:57.400 --> 00:31:00.839
It cannot be what we all have to I what's
545
00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:02.319
all out there for black men.
546
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:04.920
That plan left out a lot of stuff that's necessary.
547
00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:07.920
We definitely need the Vice President to get to a
548
00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:09.720
point where we're talking about reparations.
549
00:31:09.880 --> 00:31:13.160
We know she brought that part of the conversation up
550
00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:13.400
in the.
551
00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:16.279
Political space in twenty twenty and she says something about
552
00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:19.240
this cycle. So we just need her to be sure
553
00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:20.799
that that's going to be a part of what she's
554
00:31:20.839 --> 00:31:23.400
pushing for, because it is important to black men that
555
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:26.680
we address the shortcomings of America and all.
556
00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:28.759
Of the bearers that's created for black men.
557
00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:33.119
We know that the child support system is broken, right
558
00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:35.519
there's not a.
559
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:36.279
Stickler, a.
560
00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:41.519
Set marker on how people will be charged based on
561
00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:45.640
money they make, and they and where they live or
562
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:48.920
how many kids they have. It's determined by whatever the
563
00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:51.640
judge feels you should be paying is what you're paying.
564
00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:55.079
So we need some consistency in the child support system.
565
00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:57.880
And I think that's the serious thing. That is not
566
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:00.839
an issue that the Vice president created. It's an issue
567
00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:03.559
that she finds herself having to deal with if she's
568
00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:05.799
trying to reach black men. But I do think that
569
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:09.680
the plan is a great first step. Nobody nobody, and
570
00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:11.839
she's done it in one hundred days. To put this
571
00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:14.680
plan out as fast is powerful because Donald Trump has
572
00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:17.839
been running since he lost this job and he's not
573
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.680
had a plan for black men, and we definitely didn't
574
00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:22.839
so see Joe Biden put out a plan for black men.
575
00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:26.880
So to see a plan specifically for black men in
576
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:29.960
this moment says a lot, especially when we, like I said,
577
00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:32.440
we've never seen a candidate say hey, this is for
578
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:35.039
black men and then articulate what they mean. That is
579
00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:39.200
not lib service. So it would be remorseful on my
580
00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:42.200
part for me to pretend that this is small prize
581
00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:45.799
when it's not. But it also would be a sestind
582
00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:47.279
to the work that I do and the brothers that
583
00:32:47.319 --> 00:32:50.279
I say. I represent if I didn't say, it's the
584
00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:52.519
foundation and is not all.
585
00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:54.799
In twenty twenty two, you were elected the mayor of
586
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:58.680
your hometown Infield, North Carolina, and where you defeated an
587
00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:01.960
incumbent by more than fifty three percentage points to become
588
00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:05.519
the youngest mayor in the town's history. Congratulations in that.
589
00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:10.279
I know that's a long long time ago when you
590
00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:13.000
think in terms of when that happened and where we
591
00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:15.880
are now. So you know a thing or two about
592
00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:19.480
being up against the odds. So what has your organization
593
00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:23.240
found that black mail voters really want that they haven't
594
00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:27.680
received from past candidates. What are they looking for?
595
00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:33.160
So, first of all, it's it's not simply messaging or
596
00:33:33.240 --> 00:33:35.759
issues that are going to animate black men in this
597
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:39.279
election cycle or none. What we know, though, is the
598
00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:42.400
transactional nature of the way we place electoral politics in
599
00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:46.680
this country. It's a depth mail in the colfin of
600
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:51.640
electoral work. Meaning when people show up, or I should
601
00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:54.279
say when people don't show up when it's not an election,
602
00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:57.519
but wait two or three months, it's one election cycle
603
00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:00.720
has start knocking on black men doors. It doesn't matter
604
00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:02.400
what you say to black men, even if you are
605
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:04.799
right on the issue, you will not be seen as
606
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:07.680
a trusted messenger, and therefore you will be ineffective in
607
00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:10.199
moving them or animating them to go to the poll.
608
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:14.960
That is problematic for everybody that has not had a
609
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:17.679
relationship with black men. So right now, those who are
610
00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:21.719
running ads, those who are those who are knocking on doors,
611
00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:25.039
those who are sending males to black men houses, it's
612
00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:27.760
going to be ineffective to reach these brothers because they
613
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:29.360
don't have long term relationship.
614
00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:32.480
So what black men want is to be seen when it's.
615
00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:35.000
Not just for their vote, when the issues are plaguing
616
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:36.760
them in off election years.
617
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.280
They need people to.
618
00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:42.000
Be there to listen and also really be in community
619
00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:45.440
with them to help find solutions to stop what's plaguing
620
00:34:45.559 --> 00:34:49.320
us and really find an answer to the thing that
621
00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:53.239
we know is the white supremacy and the tolerance for
622
00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:56.199
the long suffering of black men in this country. So
623
00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:59.880
while the economy is extremely important to black men, while
624
00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:04.320
you know for a segment of population, starting businesses is
625
00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:09.199
extremely important, all of that, putting trades back in school,
626
00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:11.840
but it doesn't matter if you know these issues are
627
00:35:11.880 --> 00:35:15.039
important to black men, because if you're not a trusted messenger.
628
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:16.800
They're gonna look at you like his cat.
629
00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:21.559
What is your organization doing to sort of change the
630
00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:24.239
tide on that and inform and encourage black men not
631
00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:27.119
to set out the selection because they're disenchanted.
632
00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.199
Yeah, So, I mean I need people to understand that,
633
00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:33.920
you know, the beauty of black men. Voter Project is
634
00:35:33.960 --> 00:35:36.920
our program. And while you hear voter in our name,
635
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:40.480
so people automatically assume that our tactics are the same
636
00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:45.239
as other political organizations. But our program is based mostly psychology.
637
00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:49.400
Two types the lessons learned from mas Low hierarchy needs
638
00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:51.960
that says if people don't have their basic needs met,
639
00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:55.679
then they can't do things that seem and set self actualization.
640
00:35:56.159 --> 00:35:58.599
And the way that this country presents voting to black men,
641
00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:02.079
people who are living without there, who are not comfortable
642
00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:05.559
in housing, who are not comfortable and uh and in economy,
643
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:09.960
who's not comfort comfortable in healthy relationships or even healthcare,
644
00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:12.440
and we're asking them to do something that doesn't match
645
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:15.760
what they're suffering through. So, but Voter Project do is
646
00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:18.760
in off years all the time. What we're doing is
647
00:36:18.760 --> 00:36:21.519
trying to address the problems that are plaguing back men.
648
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:23.320
So if they're coming home from prison.
649
00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:25.840
We're trying to be there to wrap our arms around
650
00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:29.119
these brothers and say what do you need, clothing, housing.
651
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:29.960
Furniture, whatever.
652
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:32.119
We try to assist them in those in that and
653
00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:34.480
if we can't assist them, we try to find them
654
00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:37.679
someone to stay, like even sometimes at my carib right.
655
00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:38.320
Uh.
656
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.440
If if brothers need jobs and if we can't hire them,
657
00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:45.719
we're trying to find them jobs. We act as in
658
00:36:45.880 --> 00:36:49.920
an interview advocate sometimes meaning we go sit down with
659
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:52.880
these brothers and take interviews for them.
660
00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:54.119
We we we.
661
00:36:53.960 --> 00:36:57.360
Do anything that address the barriers that keep black men
662
00:36:57.639 --> 00:37:00.000
from being whole in this country. So in election years,
663
00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:02.280
when we talk to them about voting, it doesn't seem
664
00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:06.159
transactional because they've seen us eleven twelve times a year,
665
00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:09.519
even if it was not an election. It is important
666
00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:12.519
that people understand that the reason Black Male Voter Project
667
00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:14.960
can talk to the you know, the fifty nine percent
668
00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:18.159
of black men who don't see themselves in traditional politics
669
00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:23.079
is because where they're addressing barriers, reaching these brothers eleven
670
00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:25.880
twelve times a year, even if it's not an election.
671
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:29.960
So, final word, what would you want to say to
672
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:32.119
those voters? Who are kind of sitting on the fence
673
00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:34.159
and saying, really, it's a waste of my time to
674
00:37:34.199 --> 00:37:35.840
go to vote anyway.
675
00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:39.280
Well, I mean I would. I mean, so that conversation,
676
00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:39.719
I don't.
677
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:42.159
I don't think it's that many people that think that
678
00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:44.880
believe that their voters are wasting their time. I do
679
00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:48.360
believe that some people people forget that MIT came up
680
00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:52.280
with this science called habit loops, and it stays that
681
00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:56.159
people trying to form new habits are doing cost benefit
682
00:37:56.199 --> 00:37:59.360
analysis on every decision they make about that habit.
683
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.679
When black men are doing cost benefit analysis about.
684
00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:06.000
Voting, they're comparing what's worth they're going to get for
685
00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:08.559
where they find themselves in America. And that is a
686
00:38:08.559 --> 00:38:11.280
hard sale for black men to believe that you're going
687
00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:15.880
to change what has been my situation, my lot in life.
688
00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:20.679
My grandfather's my father's father's fathers, so that's my great grandfather.
689
00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:23.119
So I think I think people have to consider that
690
00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:25.719
and not just think about it in the terms of
691
00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:29.000
people being apathetic about well a political because the truth
692
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:31.159
of the matter is, the truth of the matter is
693
00:38:31.159 --> 00:38:33.760
black men show up in ways, And I mean in
694
00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:37.400
the last midterm, black people outperform white people for the
695
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:40.159
first time in this country. Yet people still discount that.
696
00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:42.400
People still saying one in five black men are going
697
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:44.920
to vote for Trump, even though there's no historical data
698
00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:47.519
to support that. Every since Donald Trump has been on
699
00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:51.159
the political scene, we watch black men become more progressive.
700
00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:54.159
In twenty twenty, Donald Trump got less Black men vote
701
00:38:54.360 --> 00:38:54.599
than he.
702
00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:55.760
Did in twenty sixteen.
703
00:38:56.039 --> 00:38:58.159
In twenty twenty two, I just told you about how
704
00:38:58.239 --> 00:39:02.840
black people turned out the highest number ever for Democratic candidates,
705
00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:05.599
and then twenty twenty three, black men did something that
706
00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:06.639
was super amazing.
707
00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:10.079
Without the monies of presidential campaigns.
708
00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:15.000
In Ohio, we watched black men outperform everybody, not.
709
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:17.599
Excluding anyone, on women's right to choose.
710
00:39:17.920 --> 00:39:21.719
And the closest demographic to us were black was black women,
711
00:39:21.760 --> 00:39:24.519
and they were eight percentage points behind us. Black men
712
00:39:24.599 --> 00:39:27.599
voted eighty eight percent for women's right to choose and
713
00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:30.199
black women were at eighty percent. And then we even
714
00:39:30.679 --> 00:39:33.400
voted higher for women's right to choose than we did
715
00:39:33.400 --> 00:39:35.960
the legalization in marijuana. So that puts to bed this
716
00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:38.719
idea that black men are not out here supporting black
717
00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:40.639
women and caring about what they're living through.
718
00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:42.679
Even more than what the world.
719
00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:45.159
Want to sell us. So the world keeps talking about marijuana,
720
00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:49.119
and the legalization of marijuana is a big deal because of.
721
00:39:48.039 --> 00:39:51.719
The impacts that the justice system have has had on
722
00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:52.679
black men lives.
723
00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:56.280
But we also know that black men are in community
724
00:39:56.599 --> 00:39:59.679
because unlike any other men in this country, we woke
725
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:03.840
with our women are more than anybody. There's nobody in
726
00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:06.400
this country to vote more with black women than black men,
727
00:40:06.760 --> 00:40:09.719
and it's not even close. And no other men vote
728
00:40:09.719 --> 00:40:13.480
with their women like we do, and it's not even
729
00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:16.039
close over there either. So the idea of this notion
730
00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:19.920
goes back to the lack of intimate relationship that the
731
00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:22.920
political space have with black men, and it's causing all
732
00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:27.000
this type of misinformation and also this frantic behavior from everybody.
733
00:40:27.159 --> 00:40:29.239
People put hair is on fire, worried about black men
734
00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:32.599
so much so that people are online bashing black.
735
00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:34.360
Men for something they've never done.
736
00:40:34.519 --> 00:40:37.159
Black men have never not supported black women when their
737
00:40:37.239 --> 00:40:38.920
name is on the ballot. If you go back and
738
00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:42.119
look at every black woman that ran for office as
739
00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:47.960
a Democrat, the second most support for her was always
740
00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:49.400
black men right behind black women.
741
00:40:50.840 --> 00:40:55.639
Well, thank you, Mayor Mondale Robinson You've definitely enlightened us
742
00:40:55.679 --> 00:40:58.440
with a lot of information from you are the mayor
743
00:40:58.519 --> 00:41:02.079
of Infield, North Carolina and founding principle of the black
744
00:41:02.199 --> 00:41:05.519
Mail Voters Project. We appreciate you joining us on the BION.
745
00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:07.239
Thank you so much for creating the space.
746
00:41:07.480 --> 00:41:08.119
Thanks Ester.
747
00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:12.119
Black excellence has led the federal government to appoint its
748
00:41:12.159 --> 00:41:15.760
first African American US Mint Director in its history, and
749
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:20.079
she has made some major accomplishments since her appointment. Doug
750
00:41:20.199 --> 00:41:21.840
Davis as more.
751
00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.519
Doug, Hey, Thanks Mike. Is Doug Davis taking a pause
752
00:41:24.639 --> 00:41:27.199
on my normal segment Your Black Business to bring you
753
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:30.800
the US Mint's first Black director, the honorable Venetra C.
754
00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:31.440
Gibson.
755
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:32.000
She's here to.
756
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:36.079
Talk about the Harriet Tubman Commemorative coins and its economic impact.
757
00:41:36.159 --> 00:41:39.360
Welcome to the BI and congratulations on your new position.
758
00:41:39.840 --> 00:41:41.760
Thank you very much, appreciate it.
759
00:41:42.639 --> 00:41:45.440
What inspired you to take on the role of us
760
00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:49.679
MEN Director, especially given you know the historical significance as
761
00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:53.159
the first African American appointed to this position since what
762
00:41:53.400 --> 00:41:54.400
seventeen ninety two.
763
00:41:54.920 --> 00:41:59.039
Seventeen ninety two is correct for the Men's existence, I
764
00:41:59.119 --> 00:42:01.800
certainly didn't start than just a few years after that.
765
00:42:03.639 --> 00:42:04.559
I love a humor.
766
00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:10.119
But anyway, I was about to retire from the district
767
00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:15.679
government in twenty twenty one and I received a cosking
768
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:18.679
if I would be interested in this position, and I
769
00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:22.280
thought about it and the historical significance of such an
770
00:42:22.320 --> 00:42:26.519
appointment and the fact that I have always been in
771
00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:29.800
public service, and I saw this as yet another opportunity
772
00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:33.440
to serve the American people. And that is what led
773
00:42:33.480 --> 00:42:38.880
me to starting this role versus the deputy director. That
774
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:44.000
was in September or October of twenty twenty one, and
775
00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:49.280
I was confirmed as the director by the Senate unanimously
776
00:42:50.119 --> 00:42:52.760
in June of twenty twenty two. So I've been at
777
00:42:52.760 --> 00:42:58.239
this going on three years when October this year amazing.
778
00:42:58.679 --> 00:43:05.320
The Harriet Tubman Remembrative coin program powerful tribute to the
779
00:43:05.559 --> 00:43:08.880
iconic figure in American history. Share some of the insights
780
00:43:08.920 --> 00:43:14.480
into the design process for these coins. What symbolism did
781
00:43:14.519 --> 00:43:15.639
you aim to capture?
782
00:43:15.960 --> 00:43:19.320
The symbolism we aimed to capture was in a three
783
00:43:19.360 --> 00:43:24.559
coin set, the gold, silver, and silver clad to one
784
00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:30.320
focus on someone who has who we've persevered and who
785
00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:33.000
we should honor as part of American history.
786
00:43:33.599 --> 00:43:34.880
And when we talk about.
787
00:43:34.599 --> 00:43:38.880
American history and why Harriet Tupman is so important, especially
788
00:43:38.920 --> 00:43:44.280
to African Americans, is what she did, what she sacrificed,
789
00:43:44.360 --> 00:43:50.559
what she put forth to go thirteen different times from
790
00:43:50.719 --> 00:43:56.760
Maryland and Delaware to Pennsylvania to free slaves, and she
791
00:43:56.920 --> 00:44:02.039
never lost one, She never let one leave, and she
792
00:44:02.079 --> 00:44:04.920
didn't let anyone give up. She made sure that the
793
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:08.280
number she was going with was what she arrived in
794
00:44:08.320 --> 00:44:13.599
Pennsylvania ensured their freedom. The significance of this has to
795
00:44:13.639 --> 00:44:18.840
do with us as African Americans knowing that Black history
796
00:44:18.960 --> 00:44:23.360
is American history number one, number two, that we should
797
00:44:23.480 --> 00:44:29.519
always showcase our history in every form, and in this case,
798
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.360
we captured literally the ninety four years of Harriet's life
799
00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:41.199
from one coin representing her commitment to freeing enslaved persons
800
00:44:41.400 --> 00:44:47.960
to the Kombahi River where she planned and organized the
801
00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:52.760
freedom of seven hundred and fifty slaves through by taking
802
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:56.519
one hundred and fifty soldiers, by the nursing that she
803
00:44:56.719 --> 00:44:59.960
provided to our soldiers, and then the fifty four years
804
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:03.480
following all of that that she gave to being an
805
00:45:03.519 --> 00:45:09.239
abolitionist and a suffragist and also a key member and
806
00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:13.920
contributor to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. So that
807
00:45:14.079 --> 00:45:16.960
is what we wanted to do and wanting our youth
808
00:45:17.119 --> 00:45:20.920
to see that, wanting our African Americans to see that,
809
00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:25.159
and as a part of our logo which is connecting
810
00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:29.480
America through coins, this was the way we saw of
811
00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:34.159
reaching out to the communities of color to ensure that
812
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:37.880
we as a people know our history and know what
813
00:45:37.960 --> 00:45:42.800
people did to for as far as being trailblazers and pioneers.
814
00:45:42.920 --> 00:45:43.960
That's right, that's right.
815
00:45:44.519 --> 00:45:48.960
Coins available in gold, silver, half dollar denominations. How do
816
00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:54.519
you see these coins contributing to generational wealth for Black Americans?
817
00:45:55.400 --> 00:45:57.960
Well, I can tell you just from a personal experience
818
00:45:58.000 --> 00:46:02.039
with the gold coin relevant to Harriet Tubman, that when
819
00:46:02.159 --> 00:46:06.000
I looked at how much that would cost, I said, okay,
820
00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:09.800
I you know, it was seven hundred when it started
821
00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:12.960
out for sale, just for the gold coin. And you
822
00:46:13.000 --> 00:46:16.079
know how time gets away from you, time got away
823
00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:18.280
from me. And next thing I looked, it was up
824
00:46:18.280 --> 00:46:21.880
to eight hundred dollars. When I purchased the set, it
825
00:46:21.920 --> 00:46:25.119
was up to nine hundred dollars. So, you know, we
826
00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:30.719
try through financial literacy to build generational wealth. We try
827
00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:36.119
through educating about ways to invest by you know, consulting
828
00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:38.960
with financial analysts, and a number of them will do
829
00:46:39.079 --> 00:46:43.199
them as part of educational campaigns at no charge. But
830
00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:47.599
for US, gold is a way of investing in your
831
00:46:47.599 --> 00:46:50.880
own future if you like it's you know, you don't
832
00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:53.840
have to know the stock market, but you have to
833
00:46:53.880 --> 00:46:57.840
know where gold prices are. And if you want to start,
834
00:46:58.079 --> 00:47:01.000
you know, if you want to just tap that water
835
00:47:01.079 --> 00:47:03.440
a little bit to see if it's cool or warm,
836
00:47:04.159 --> 00:47:08.719
then you can start by just collecting gold coins and
837
00:47:08.760 --> 00:47:13.159
making initial investments in that and see how it does
838
00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:16.840
gold as you know that if it soars and then
839
00:47:16.880 --> 00:47:21.280
it stabilizes, then it's sores and it stabilizes, and it's
840
00:47:21.440 --> 00:47:24.760
just a healthy way to start if you're interested. But
841
00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:28.400
also in coin collecting, generally, a number of coins may
842
00:47:28.800 --> 00:47:30.800
have a lot of value to them if you can
843
00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:33.400
locate and identify the proper ones.
844
00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:36.280
Right right, right, So where do folks go to get
845
00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:38.119
these Harriet Tubman coins.
846
00:47:38.280 --> 00:47:42.960
A us MIT dot gov, and please make sure you
847
00:47:43.079 --> 00:47:48.119
do so before December thirty first, because the Commemorative Coin
848
00:47:48.679 --> 00:47:53.360
program for Harriet Tubman is congressionally mandated and they put
849
00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:57.880
a time limit on it and it expires December thirty first,
850
00:47:58.400 --> 00:48:00.800
and the US Mint will not be able to sell
851
00:48:01.280 --> 00:48:05.719
or make any additional Harriet Tubman coin, So that's very
852
00:48:05.760 --> 00:48:10.159
important to us. The other reason why we really want
853
00:48:10.199 --> 00:48:13.199
to make sure we push the message out to as
854
00:48:13.239 --> 00:48:17.239
many as possible, not only to purchase, but also to
855
00:48:17.480 --> 00:48:23.079
understand that the two organizations that got us the Commemorative
856
00:48:23.119 --> 00:48:29.400
Coin Act through Congressman Meeks and Congresswoman Rosen was because
857
00:48:29.719 --> 00:48:35.360
of the Underground Railroad for the Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio,
858
00:48:35.800 --> 00:48:39.719
and Harriet Tubman's Home in Auburn, New York. The US
859
00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:45.400
MEANT authorizes surcharges to those organizations for all of what
860
00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:49.440
we sell. They get so much for each coin, and
861
00:48:49.519 --> 00:48:53.880
in this case, we've been so successful. We've sold over
862
00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:58.360
fifty thousand dollars fifty thousand in coins and to the
863
00:48:58.440 --> 00:49:02.559
tune right now of lightly over a million dollars, which
864
00:49:02.639 --> 00:49:06.400
the Underground Railroad, Freedom Center and Harriet Tubman's Home will
865
00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:09.360
be able to split equally, and that will go to
866
00:49:09.480 --> 00:49:13.559
helping them rebuild, refurnish, or whatever they would need to do,
867
00:49:13.800 --> 00:49:17.760
educate and inform about Harriet Tubman and her legacy.
868
00:49:18.199 --> 00:49:21.559
Amen for that, Love you for that. Finally, as the
869
00:49:21.639 --> 00:49:25.840
first black director and beyond the Tubman coins, what other
870
00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:29.880
historical figures or events would you like to see commemorated
871
00:49:29.920 --> 00:49:32.119
through the US mint coins in the future.
872
00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:35.400
I would love to see the American Women Quarters program
873
00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:39.679
continue in one framework or another. And what I mean
874
00:49:39.719 --> 00:49:43.760
by that is we introduced in twenty twenty two the
875
00:49:43.880 --> 00:49:48.239
first African American on a quarter. Her name was Maya Angelou,
876
00:49:49.039 --> 00:49:53.199
and we have come full circle to twenty twenty five.
877
00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:57.239
Congress authorized that I'd like to see women become a
878
00:49:57.320 --> 00:50:03.960
part permanently, even though coining meaning the circulating coin Nicholas
879
00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:07.519
Dimes Penny's Quarters can last up to thirty five years
880
00:50:07.559 --> 00:50:11.599
being out in circulation, but I would like for us
881
00:50:11.639 --> 00:50:15.000
to have more opportunities to showcase women as we do
882
00:50:15.159 --> 00:50:20.760
other individuals men specifically. That is one thing I'd love
883
00:50:20.800 --> 00:50:24.639
to do. I'm looking forward and we're excited about our
884
00:50:24.679 --> 00:50:31.880
partnership with Warner Brothers and the characters of Superman, Batman
885
00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:35.880
and Wonder Woman as a trilogy that we will showcase
886
00:50:35.920 --> 00:50:40.159
on coins in twenty twenty five and then in twenty
887
00:50:40.239 --> 00:50:44.199
twenty six. It's the anniversary of the United States two
888
00:50:44.320 --> 00:50:47.599
hundred and fifty years and some of the exciting work
889
00:50:47.639 --> 00:50:51.639
we will be doing around that. That's what we have planned,
890
00:50:52.199 --> 00:50:55.639
separate from the fact of great news. Out of four
891
00:50:55.679 --> 00:51:01.159
thousand coins worldwide the United States meant after one hundred
892
00:51:01.199 --> 00:51:07.719
and ten judges internationally our gold coin one Coin of
893
00:51:07.800 --> 00:51:12.519
the Year and our other coin that features a beautiful
894
00:51:12.639 --> 00:51:16.800
tree one for gold for Coin of the Year two,
895
00:51:17.480 --> 00:51:21.559
So we won two awards internationally and that's a big deal.
896
00:51:22.360 --> 00:51:27.119
So that's something and for me connecting America through coins
897
00:51:26.760 --> 00:51:32.400
as a director, truly reaching out to our communities. That's
898
00:51:32.519 --> 00:51:35.840
why we've been so successful with Harriet, because we've really
899
00:51:35.880 --> 00:51:40.199
pushed our reach to make sure that our kids and
900
00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:43.119
adults and others who may not have had a clue
901
00:51:43.719 --> 00:51:48.159
that Harriet Tubman's there and we need to showcase and
902
00:51:48.320 --> 00:51:53.639
honor her by purchasing these beautiful, beautiful canvases of.
903
00:51:53.719 --> 00:51:55.079
Arc that's beautiful.
904
00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:58.679
US men's first black director of the honorable Venturacy Gibson.
905
00:51:58.760 --> 00:52:00.960
Thank you for taking some time. I'm out to share
906
00:52:01.039 --> 00:52:04.000
this amazing accomplishment here on the BI in. This is
907
00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:06.599
Doug Davis. You're listening to the Black Information Network.
908
00:52:06.760 --> 00:52:09.760
Great stuff as always, Doug, and thank you, and that's
909
00:52:09.800 --> 00:52:12.960
our program for this week. For more on these stories.
910
00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:16.599
Listen to the Black Information Network on the free iHeartRadio
911
00:52:16.639 --> 00:52:20.599
app or log on to binnews dot com for all
912
00:52:20.639 --> 00:52:24.400
of the latest news impacting the black community. Also be
913
00:52:24.480 --> 00:52:27.480
sure to follow us on social media at Black Information
914
00:52:27.599 --> 00:52:32.360
Network and on x at Black Infonet. I'm Mike Island,
915
00:52:32.400 --> 00:52:35.480
wishing everyone a great Sunday, and be sure to tune
916
00:52:35.519 --> 00:52:39.079
in next week at this time for another edition of
917
00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:43.440
the Black Perspective right here on the Black Information Network.
918
00:52:43.559 --> 00:52:47.119
It's not easy being a father. We don't always have
919
00:52:47.239 --> 00:52:50.159
the luxury of doing what we want to do. We
920
00:52:50.199 --> 00:52:52.679
do what we have to do. We do what we
921
00:52:52.760 --> 00:52:55.880
need to do to provide for and protect our families.
922
00:52:56.960 --> 00:53:00.159
And that's what the selection is about for me, as
923
00:53:00.199 --> 00:53:03.960
the results won't just affect my life, they'll affect my kids.
924
00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:09.360
So as a father this November, it's my duty to
925
00:53:09.440 --> 00:53:10.000
step up.
926
00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:15.239
Step up now at vote dot gov. That's vote dot goov.
927
00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:20.000
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
928
00:53:20.039 --> 00:53:24.000
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
929
00:53:24.039 --> 00:53:27.559
of BN and its founding partners and employees.
930
00:53:27.760 --> 00:53:31.000
I'm Moe Kelly on the BIN with your two minute warning.
931
00:53:31.159 --> 00:53:34.159
The band Aerosmith was inducted into the Rock and Roll
932
00:53:34.159 --> 00:53:36.960
Hall of Fame in two thousand and one. Its lead singer,
933
00:53:37.039 --> 00:53:39.880
Steven Tyler, is known the world over, and more than
934
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:42.519
just a few jokes have been made about the size
935
00:53:42.519 --> 00:53:45.199
of his lips over the years. His daughter, Live is
936
00:53:45.239 --> 00:53:48.519
an accomplished actress in her own right. While searching her
937
00:53:48.559 --> 00:53:52.079
family's roots, Live found out that she is part Black,
938
00:53:52.239 --> 00:53:55.480
and listen when she breaks the news to her father.
939
00:53:55.519 --> 00:53:58.360
Hell, I'm so excited that you came all the way
940
00:53:58.400 --> 00:54:00.760
here to be with me so I could share with you.
941
00:54:01.159 --> 00:54:05.559
We've always talked about your Italian side of all musicians,
942
00:54:05.599 --> 00:54:09.039
but you never knew about your mom's side. That was
943
00:54:09.079 --> 00:54:12.280
a mystery. So we traced the family tree back to
944
00:54:12.400 --> 00:54:16.519
my four times great grandfather, Robert Elliott, who is your
945
00:54:16.719 --> 00:54:23.159
great great great grandfather. Robert Elliott was part African American.
946
00:54:23.960 --> 00:54:30.480
I knew it. I knew it, Thank you God. I
947
00:54:30.519 --> 00:54:33.960
always felt akin to to to black people.
948
00:54:34.760 --> 00:54:36.559
Always did you know it?
949
00:54:36.679 --> 00:54:38.599
I had no idea, but I mean I felt it
950
00:54:38.679 --> 00:54:39.280
my whole life.
951
00:54:39.559 --> 00:54:45.400
Oh amazing. They sort of think that Robert Elliott Senior
952
00:54:45.599 --> 00:54:50.119
might have been an indentured servant. Wow, he or was
953
00:54:50.159 --> 00:54:52.000
in the War of eighteen twelve.
954
00:54:52.440 --> 00:54:54.159
Yeah, and he was a drummer.
955
00:54:54.519 --> 00:54:57.920
Oh my god.
956
00:54:57.719 --> 00:54:58.280
That's too good.
957
00:54:58.400 --> 00:55:02.000
And you were a drummer for was that your first instrument?
958
00:55:03.000 --> 00:55:06.679
So then Robert Elliott had a son named George Washington Elliott,
959
00:55:06.920 --> 00:55:10.760
and we found that he had enlisted in the Civil
960
00:55:10.760 --> 00:55:14.239
War and he signed up as a white man.
961
00:55:14.440 --> 00:55:16.760
Well, I guess this mean Steven that live can now
962
00:55:16.840 --> 00:55:19.840
come to the cookout or not. I'm mo Kelly at
963
00:55:19.880 --> 00:55:22.719
mister mo Kelly on social media and that's your two
964
00:55:22.760 --> 00:55:26.119
minute warning on the Black Information Network.
965
00:55:26.519 --> 00:55:29.960
The Third at Marshall College Fund or TMCF, is helping
966
00:55:30.039 --> 00:55:33.639
black students in the black college community achieve their dreams.
967
00:55:33.920 --> 00:55:36.559
Students like Brandon Smith, who is the first college to
968
00:55:36.599 --> 00:55:37.880
graduate in his family.
969
00:55:38.079 --> 00:55:40.199
It's a lot of pressure, but when you get through
970
00:55:40.239 --> 00:55:43.039
and you get to the other side, you didn't feel
971
00:55:43.039 --> 00:55:46.079
like you know, you're that person to your family where
972
00:55:46.519 --> 00:55:48.480
they can look at you and believe that you know,
973
00:55:48.559 --> 00:55:51.599
these things can be done even though they haven't been before.
974
00:55:51.760 --> 00:55:56.000
After graduating from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
975
00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:59.119
in May, Brandon now works as a global security and
976
00:55:59.199 --> 00:56:03.800
investigation associate at Fidelity Investments in Dallas, Texas. He gives
977
00:56:03.840 --> 00:56:07.239
partial credit for his success to the TMCF, which gave
978
00:56:07.320 --> 00:56:09.679
him a fifteen thousand dollars scholarship.
979
00:56:09.960 --> 00:56:13.519
That scholarship in the programs that I've been able to
980
00:56:13.639 --> 00:56:17.400
be a part of through TMCF have significantly increased and
981
00:56:17.480 --> 00:56:21.199
assisted me in graduating college not only you know, financially,
982
00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:23.880
but also like the networks I've built have made my
983
00:56:24.000 --> 00:56:29.119
college journey super smooth, stress free, and super insightful to
984
00:56:29.159 --> 00:56:29.599
the future.
985
00:56:29.760 --> 00:56:32.880
The Free Application for Student Aid are FATA was also
986
00:56:32.960 --> 00:56:35.400
instrumental in Brandon's college experience.
987
00:56:35.840 --> 00:56:39.039
Being black, students were always.
988
00:56:38.719 --> 00:56:40.920
Thinking that, you know, I can't pay for college, I
989
00:56:40.960 --> 00:56:44.280
can't go well, the FATA definitely opens doors to a
990
00:56:44.280 --> 00:56:47.079
lot of funding from various places, and a lot of
991
00:56:47.480 --> 00:56:52.360
institutions do require you to do your FASTA because without
992
00:56:52.360 --> 00:56:55.360
your FASCA, most companies also don't allow you to get
993
00:56:55.480 --> 00:56:57.599
outside scholarship opportunities.
994
00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:00.840
Brandon is now helping the TMCF and there finish fasta
995
00:57:00.960 --> 00:57:03.960
Find Your Future campaign which aims to get black college
996
00:57:03.960 --> 00:57:07.719
students to submit their application as soon as possible. He says,
997
00:57:07.760 --> 00:57:10.639
completing the FAFSA is worth the time and energy it
998
00:57:10.679 --> 00:57:11.599
takes to do so.
999
00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:16.360
It's a super easy form that has a lifelong benefit.
1000
00:57:16.519 --> 00:57:19.480
It prevents you from having to pay back thirty forty
1001
00:57:19.639 --> 00:57:23.719
fifty thousand dollars in debt by just simply completing that
1002
00:57:23.880 --> 00:57:24.719
faster forms.
1003
00:57:24.920 --> 00:57:26.079
Do your faster.
1004
00:57:26.400 --> 00:57:28.480
It will change your life.
1005
00:57:28.840 --> 00:57:32.239
Visit finish fasta dot com and get your FAFSA in today.
1006
00:57:32.480 --> 00:57:33.840
You'll be glad you did.
1007
00:57:34.840 --> 00:57:39.239
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
1008
00:57:39.280 --> 00:57:43.280
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
1009
00:57:43.320 --> 00:57:46.840
of BIN and its founding partners and employees.
1010
00:57:47.079 --> 00:57:50.039
I'm mo Kelly on the BN with your two minute warning,
1011
00:57:50.159 --> 00:57:52.719
I'm not sure any minds will be changed from Kamala
1012
00:57:52.719 --> 00:57:55.639
Harris's interview with Brett bhar on Fox News. But it
1013
00:57:55.760 --> 00:57:59.000
was riveting television. It was contentious, and Bear was at
1014
00:57:59.039 --> 00:58:04.000
times completely disrespectful, not allowing Harris to finish her answers. Ultimately,
1015
00:58:04.119 --> 00:58:07.960
Harris demonstrated command presidents and did not wilt when Fox
1016
00:58:08.039 --> 00:58:11.280
tried to clean up Trump's statements on the enemy within
1017
00:58:11.559 --> 00:58:14.760
by not showing the actual clip of him saying it
1018
00:58:14.920 --> 00:58:15.679
bait and switch.
1019
00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:19.400
We asked that question to the former president today, Harris
1020
00:58:19.440 --> 00:58:23.280
Faulkner had a town hall and this is how he responded.
1021
00:58:23.440 --> 00:58:24.559
I heard about that.
1022
00:58:24.679 --> 00:58:27.800
They were saying I was like threatening, I'm not threatening anybody.
1023
00:58:28.199 --> 00:58:31.840
They're the ones doing the threatening. They do phony investigations.
1024
00:58:31.960 --> 00:58:35.559
I've been investigated more than Alphonse Capponi was the greatest action.
1025
00:58:35.960 --> 00:58:37.559
No, it's true, we don't but think of it.
1026
00:58:37.559 --> 00:58:40.440
It's called weaponization of government. It's a terrible thing.
1027
00:58:40.960 --> 00:58:44.199
Right, I'm sorry, and with all due respect, that clip
1028
00:58:44.360 --> 00:58:47.199
was not what he has been saying about the enemy
1029
00:58:47.280 --> 00:58:50.599
within that he is repeated when he's speaking about the
1030
00:58:50.599 --> 00:58:51.360
American people.
1031
00:58:51.400 --> 00:58:52.760
That's not what you just showed.
1032
00:58:52.920 --> 00:58:53.519
He was asking.
1033
00:58:53.599 --> 00:58:55.800
No, no, no, that's not what you just showed.
1034
00:58:55.840 --> 00:58:58.719
In all fairness and respect to you, the question that
1035
00:58:58.760 --> 00:58:59.960
we asked him, he didn't show.
1036
00:59:00.480 --> 00:59:02.079
And here's the bottom line.
1037
00:59:02.159 --> 00:59:04.920
He has repeated it many times, and you and I
1038
00:59:05.079 --> 00:59:07.920
both know that, and you and I both know that.
1039
00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:10.679
He has talked about turning the American military on the
1040
00:59:10.719 --> 00:59:11.599
American people.
1041
00:59:11.719 --> 00:59:13.800
He has talked about going.
1042
00:59:13.440 --> 00:59:16.639
After people who are engaged in peaceful protests. He has
1043
00:59:16.960 --> 00:59:21.039
talked about locking people up because they disagree with him.
1044
00:59:21.079 --> 00:59:24.880
This is a democracy and an inner democracy.
1045
00:59:25.679 --> 00:59:28.440
The president of the United States, in the United States
1046
00:59:28.440 --> 00:59:32.639
of America should be willing to be able to handle
1047
00:59:33.320 --> 00:59:37.400
criticism without saying he'd lock people up for doing it.
1048
00:59:37.719 --> 00:59:40.480
Well done, I'm mo' kelly at mister mo' kelly on
1049
00:59:40.519 --> 00:59:43.239
social media and that's you. Two minute warning on the
1050
00:59:43.280 --> 00:59:45.280
Black Information Network