What Does the Cali ICE Surge Mean for the Election? with Atty Nana Gyamf

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KBLA Talk 1580. And, yeah, talk to me nicely, but
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talk to me. 800-920-1580. 800-920-1580. I am so grateful. My
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friend and colleague in the clutch here this morning, she's
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a human and civil rights attorney. She's been specializing in
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criminal defense and civil rights since 1994. Graduated from Cornell.
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Got her law degree from UCLA. And worked with Chokwe
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Lumumba at the Black Law Institute. She has worked on many,
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many important civil rights cases. But currently, she is the
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Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration, or BAJI.
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And I am talking about Attorney Nana Jomfi. Good morning.
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Good morning. Attorney Jomfee.
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Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Glad to be on
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with you.
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Thank you for jumping in.
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I don't know why you're calling me Attorney Jomfee.
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I don't know why either. I'm sleepy today. I've been
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forgetting all kinds of things and just like, woo! Okay, Dominique,
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you got this. You've been only doing it for 500 years.
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I should also say that Attorney Jomfee is a radio
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personality in her own right.
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Ah, attorney jumped in. I'm like, who's she talking about? Oh,
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that's me. You're so stupid. How are you going in
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this ridiculous world that we're dealing with right now? It
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just gets more and more ridiculous as election time comes up.
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My goodness.
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I mean, to be honest with you, I quote you
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all the time saying that we are in the era
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of who gone check me boo. Because it just comes
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up again and again and again. I'm thinking of the
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raid of Ilhan Omar's home, which... okay, legally, is that legal?
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Because we are within 21 days of the election, and
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she is running for re-election. I mean, I know that's
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almost a foolish question at this point, but all of
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these things remind me of that one phrase you said.
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Yeah, I mean, that's really what it is. It's not illegal.
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It's just not done, right? And if we think back
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to when Hillary Clinton's was running for president and how
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upsetting it was to people that Comey was now looking
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into Benghazi and who and what, and they were doing
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all of these things, and they suddenly released files and
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all of this stuff, and then here we are, right?
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And so this is, you know, it's the era of
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who's going to check me, boo. It comes out of
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things that weren't stopped when they should have been stopped.
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Do you know what I'm saying? People rode a bandwagon
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at one time, for example, with the release of those
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files during the presidential election with Hillary Clinton. And so
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then they know that, hey, this is something that we
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probably can get away with. We're just going to amplify
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it to the umpteenth degree. It is something that's not
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supposed to happen. I find it curious that the woman
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lives actually in Minneapolis. The home that you are raiding
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is in D.C. You're not actually looking for anything. You
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know what I mean? Don't look for me in my D.C.
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government house. You're not looking for anything. This is intimidation.
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This is to have images that you can now show
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on your, you know, whatever ridiculous networks he has and
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is connected to him, et cetera, so that you can
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criminalize this person even more. And then you've already tried
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to criminalize this person. in the effort to have something
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to say, because they know that right now they don't
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have anything to say. They got too many people that
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are upset about gas prices, upset about food prices, are
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going to be upset about what's happening with their health
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care if they're not already. And so they've got to
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come up with the distractions. This is going to be
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a wild 23, 22 days. Yeah, I think that's right.
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I mean, Kimberly Guilfoyle lost her job today. They raided
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Ilhan Omar's. house yesterday. They're just cooking up one thing
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after another. I guess I hadn't planned to ask you
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about this, but I guess I should since you graduated
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from Cornell. The Cornell 7, this whole Jane Doe fraternity
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gang rape case. Do you feel like, I mean, did
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you see any any of this kind of culture on
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the campus when you, when you were a student there? No,
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it's been a minute. Yeah.
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No, of course. Listen, I was in the same school
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system in high school with Brett Kavanaugh. Do I have
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to say more? This is who these people are. This
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is them.
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Him.
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I drink beer. People getting assaulted left and right. This is,
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this is how they are. I mean, this is, you know,
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I'm old as dirt and twice as funky. all of
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that Animal House videos, right, with John Belushi. This is them.
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You know, they try to make it seem as if
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there is this particular culture that is a, you know,
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the criminal culture, the predator culture that is black folks.
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And so, you know, you would think that Freak Nick
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was the worst thing that ever happened in life. I'm
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not trying to give a, I'm not giving a positive
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laugh to Freak Nick. I'm not trying to say that
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it was. that it was a gentleman's party. But what
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I'm saying is that the ways, when I think about
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the ways in which Black people are portrayed, right, as predators,
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sexual predators, as over-sexualized, as all of these things, and
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even when a child, and when I came back from
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the continent, because we had gone there for four or
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five years, I knew that, you know, surrounded by white
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folks and going to school with white folks, and I
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realized that, oh, there's a particular culture here for these
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entitled rich white people where they really feel like they
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are entitled to whatever they want. And they have such
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a low view of women and particularly white women, particularly
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the white women that are their sisters, that are their mothers,
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that are their daughters, you know, such a low view
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that this is inevitable. And so, yes, This happened when
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I was on campus. The only thing that I can
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say that maybe was a little bit different is that
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there seems to not have been a brother to blame,
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you know, because that was one thing they absolutely would
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try to do on Cornell's campus is figure out where
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is the brother that we can blame for all of this.
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I haven't heard that in this case, which I'm glad about.
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That's, yeah, I mean, it's wild but not surprising. You know,
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it's terrible but not surprising. And there's been controversy about
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some attorneys saying, well, you know, based on what that
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prosecutor had, he probably shouldn't have gone after this case
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based on New York law. He probably shouldn't have gone
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after this case. And then other folks calling those people
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apologists and saying that we have different standards here in
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California because you can't give consent if you're inebriated. And
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apparently in New York you can. Is that relevant or
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is all of that just different forms of apologism?
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You know, I would say it's different forms of apologism
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just because as a criminal defense attorney granted in California,
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But still, as a criminal defense attorney since 1994, I
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will say that these people will charge people with things
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where you're looking at the evidence itself, and it's contrary
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to the charge, right? And so it's not that they
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cannot do it. They like to use that when they
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don't want to prosecute. It's kind of the same thing
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they do with cops, right? They'll be like, oh, well,
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you know, who, what? And the rest of us are like, no,
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we don't, actually, because if this were me, I would
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at least be charged, you'd be prosecuting me, right? I'm
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not saying that we wouldn't be able to get Nana
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jumpy and perhaps win the case, but you would still
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be prosecuting me, right? And so, you know, this idea
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that prosecutors do not, particularly in state court, that they
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don't pursue cases unless they know for sure that there's
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no reasonable doubt is foolishness. They pursue cases all the
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time in which they know that they may not actually
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get a conviction by jury or because they think they'll
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get a conviction by plea. And if there's a case
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in which you might get a conviction by plea, and
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I say this taking off my abolitionist hat, this is,
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you know, it seems that this is one of those cases. Now, again,
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we don't have all the evidence. We just have the
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things that have been leaked and shared, et cetera. But,
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you know, you have to take a stand, and this
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is a place to take a stand.
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Talking with Attorney Nana Jomfi. She's actually the Executive Director
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of Black Alliance for Just Immigration. I want to get
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your thoughts when we continue, Nana, about Operation Safe California
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and also how some of these issues, both civil rights
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issues and immigration issues, how they play out in these races,
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particularly Attorney General state attorney general and city attorney here
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in Los Angeles, both of which are big, important races
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on the ballot. And election day is today and every
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day until November 3rd. You're listening to KBLA Talk 1580.
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Talking with attorney Nana Gianfi. She's a civil rights attorney,
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an abolitionist, a radio host, and the executive director of
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Black Alliance for Just Immigration. So today, well, there's a
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lot to talk about. I don't, I want to ask
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you everything, but let's start with the basic, basic, because
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I don't want the whole hour to go by and
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I don't leave enough time to.
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Look at this Operation Safe California, the crackdown that's supposed
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to be happening by ICE starting yesterday in San Diego.
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And I don't know how long it's meant to go,
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but it's throughout the state of California and Again, Attorney
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John Fee, this seems illegal. It feels like voter suppression.
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It feels like they couldn't wait three weeks to have
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a crackdown until after the election. But what do you
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make of this? What do you know about it? And
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what should we be tracking?
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Well, the surge happened actually earlier than today, but they are,
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or today or tomorrow, but now that it's been revealed, really,
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by organizations such as L.A. Taco, et cetera, that, hey,
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there's this surge, you know, more folks are being snatched
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up by the body snatchers in Los Angeles for sure,
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and confirming also with San Diego that they're experiencing the same,
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then they decided, okay, well, let's give it a name
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and call it an operation and move from there. But
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the goal is to really have as much military on
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the ground as possible. And I know some people would say,
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but Nana, these aren't military. This is ICE. This is CBP.
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These are federal agents and mass mercenaries. But they are
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looking like military. They are, you know, meant to have
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the same kind of intimidation factor as the military. And
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their purpose, I think, yes, partially is on the voter
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intimidation end because they know that in a there are
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a lot of naturalized immigrants. I mean, there's always this
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focus on the undocumented folks and this conversation around undocumented folks,
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which I think is important, particularly, of course, for those
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of us that are concerned about the most vulnerable amongst people,
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and they are clearly in that group. But there are
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a lot of naturalized immigrants. There are a lot of
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people who who have been able, in spite of the
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difficulties and the hurdles, to get their American citizenship. And,
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you know, those people are going to vote. And in
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California is not, you know, the Cubans of Miami. They
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know what those votes are going to look like. And
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then there are, of course, folks who are their children,
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such as myself, who also, because racial profiling, as we
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remember from the Kavanaugh stops, you know, is allowed. they
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also are going to be getting stopped by the body snatchers, right?
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So we're going to be getting stopped as the children
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of immigrants. We're going to be getting stopped as people
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who look like immigrants, which means Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous,
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Native folks, regardless of what your citizenship actually is, in
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this guise of trying to make sure that there are not,
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quote unquote, illegal folks running around here. We should be
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concerned on that voter suppression end But we should also
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be concerned on the detention and deportation end, because people
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are not just being released. And I think it's important
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for folks to understand that, that even people who are
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American citizens are finding themselves getting detained, getting taken to
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some form of detention, whether that detention is in a
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downtown detention prison like we have here in Los Angeles,
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or whether they're actually moved to a place like Adelanto
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out there in the desert. And so, yeah, you may
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get out, but, you know, who wants to be in
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the detention prison? And you may not get out. Fifty
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people at least have died while in detention. The, you know,
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Waukesha Wilson situation, peace be unto her, is real. People
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die in L.A. County before they're able to get to court.
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And so people need to be seriously concerned. Speak up.
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Push back. Don't think it's something that cannot impact you
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or someone you love and so you don't care.
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You said that, you know, it's been going on for
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a while and then it was outed. So now they're
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giving it a name. The Washington Examiner, which is a
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far right wing publication. in D.C. is saying it's a
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45-day enforcement surge. And is there, I mean, is that
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just sort of like they're guessing, they're making up? Is
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there anything else we do know about this that we
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need to know about this?
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I mean, not really in the sense that they try
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not to give us what that time is to write
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it down and make it something that's obvious. By the
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time you do a FOIA, the thing will be over already.
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But we know, you know, some people I've heard have
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said 34 days, some people 40, you know, Washington Examiner 45.
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We know that they are giving us the impression that
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this is going to mess up your holidays. Like that's
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the general vibe that they're trying to give.
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Which is so, well, Scrooge-like. Yeah, let's kill a man
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on national TV and surge ice during the election and
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the holidays. Warms the heart. You know, when the guy
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I call the resident, the guy that lives in the
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White House, when he first took office, you and I
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talked about how they were doing a lot of smoke
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and mirrors. They were arresting a lot of people, but
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not necessarily deporting them. And that I was curious whether
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the whole thing was just a hustle to, you know,
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create more of these detention centers as profit centers to
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put people to work. under slave-like conditions with no real pay.
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But it seems like, from what you just stated, that
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the actual deportations have also ticked up. Is that accurate?
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Well, I would say yes and no. So what is
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interesting is that they definitely have still continued to swell
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the number of people that are being held in detention.
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to the point that they've built all of these new, quote-unquote,
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detention prisons. They're using warehouses as detention prisons. They're taking
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prisons that were built for criminal punishment prisons, like Folkston
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and other places, and making them now these large, huge,
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or adding these large, huge annexes that are now detention prisons.
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So that is absolutely still happening, and to an even
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increased amount. Those private prisons companies are making a killing,
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no pun intended. With respect to deportations, the numbers of deportations,
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I think, have not increased that much. But what has
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happened is you have a lot more third country deportations.
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And third country deportations are generally happening for people who
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because of the conditions of their country, right? So the
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people that normally should be getting asylum in this country
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because they cannot return safely to their own country. And
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so they're saying, well, great. What you can do is
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you can try to see if you can get asylum
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in Ecuador. Try to see if you can get asylum
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in Sudan, right? We're not going to send you back
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to the country that you fled. We're going to send
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you back to a totally different country that you know
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nothing about with no money, no phone, no relatives, no nothing,
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on a totally different continent. They're focusing a lot on
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getting these third country agreements with countries on the continent
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of Africa right now because they realize that they have
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a lot, meaning they, meaning the regime, has a lot
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of leverage power, economic power, military leverage, right, to be
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able to use against these countries. And so we're seeing, yes,
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that there's an uptick to some degree in deportations. But
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really what we're seeing that's alarming is that folks are
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being deported to these third countries.
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So you can get dropped in South Sudan without a
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phone or a dollar and you're supposed to try to
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get asylum there. But they're mostly they're sending them to
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prison there. So you're going into prison and trying to
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get asylum without a phone or any contacts or speaking
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the language. or the culture, or having any money?
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I mean, presumably, yeah. That they're like, yeah, that that
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is what is happening. And as you pointed out, most
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of these folks are not ending up, you know, being
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able to now just go into the country and try
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to see how they can make, you know, some kind
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of do with the immigration system of that country. They're
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being held in prison. And so if your attorney is,
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if you have an attorney, because remember, A lot of
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people in immigration court do not have an attorney. It
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is not like criminal court. You are not entitled to
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an attorney. So if you have an attorney, even, and
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we're in touch with folks, we work with Asbaji attorneys
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that do have folks that they're still in contact with,
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you know, once they get deported. And, you know, if
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you have that, maybe you're lucky folks can connect up
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and try to figure out how to get you some
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money and continue to fight for you. But there's others
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who don't have that. And so, you know, unless they
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can get someone to get the word out, they are
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literally stuck. Like there's going to be a real revelation
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as to how many people are right now stuck in
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these prisons in other countries once this regime is brought down.
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So it seems like if you're coming into the country
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and you're already in prison, you're at an automatic disadvantage
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because you're seen as a criminal. Now you're a criminal
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trying to get asylum in a country that may or
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may not have an asylum. policy of any kind, right? Right.
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And most people are not going to try to get
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asylum in that country. Their goal is to get out
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of that country. Right. And you had a situation with
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Jamaicans that were sent to Eswatini, which we used to
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call Swaziland. And the Jamaican government actually... You know, entered
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into negotiations and conversations with Eswatini to get their nationals back. Right.
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But that is not always the case. And you're not
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always going to have those conversations and, you know, between governments.
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And so there are people that are just stuck. You know,
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that's where they are. Ghana, you know, the country I
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come from, the alleged black star of Africa, somehow decided
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it was a good idea to get into this third
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country agreement. peace and you know are trying to claim
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that they were transit hub it was their pan-african duty
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to be a transit hub to allow people to be
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deported to their country um in dignity or whatever the
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heck and meanwhile we're seeing images of people being dragged
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kicking and screaming into buses not so much dignity in that.
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Hold that thought attorney nana john if you've got a
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hard stop for news traffic and sports we'll keep it
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going when we come forward Attorney Nana Jamfi is with
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me and I got a bunch of questions. I'm going
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to try to squeeze them all in here. But you
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were talking about folks, you know, all of these people
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being deported to third countries. We have a report coming
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out from ICE now that since the president, the current
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president has taken office, 15,000 people deported. have been deported
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from Southern California alone. That seems like a lot of folks,
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but it sounds like not necessarily an escalation, but more
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an escalation of the tactics and the treatment of people
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once they are arrested or deported.
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Yeah, absolutely. And it is a lot like we don't
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want to minimize.
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Right.
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It's a lot of people. If it's one of your people,
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it's a lot of people. Right. But we also need
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to be thinking about the tactics because that's always a situation,
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whether it's voter suppression, whether it's going after black leaders,
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all of that. It's the tactics that change to get
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more and more sharp and more and more cool.
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I was also reading and I talked about it on
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this show about how Stephen Miller is who is a
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white supremacist that currently is a high-ranking advisor to the president,
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has personally spearheaded a surge in deportations of little kids
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and how these little kids, children, babies, some of them unaccompanied,
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some just designated as unaccompanied because we took them away
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from their parents, are going to court with no lawyers.
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Absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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Yeah, they're going according with no lawyers. And again, it's
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an example of the expansion.
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Like six and seven-year-olds. That's crazy.
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Right. And we know that they did that before, and
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they're just taking everything that they've tried and gotten away
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with and said, okay, now we're going to expand it
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and we're going to do even more. I mean, I
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remember an image of a van filled with like every
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single seat, those babysits from Graco. Wow. Every single seat.
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I said, who is putting... Babies like that. Car seat
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babies to take them to immigration court to do what?
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There's some stuff on the ballot that seems like, you know,
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intersect with your portfolio of work. Um, one of them
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is attorney general at our California voices town hall. I
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had the opportunity, I got assigned, uh, to, um, to
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interview the man, Michael Gates, a Huntington beach city attorney
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who's running, uh, against Rob Bonta, um, for attorney general. Um,
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and he is actually someone who, as I mentioned in
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that conversation was, um, was sanctioned by the Trump administration
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for creating a toxic work environment. I'm just wondering just
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how toxic does it have to be for you to
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get sent home by the Trump administration?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the thing is, they're
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really trying, California, and I think it's important. You and
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I have talked about this. We've put out the clarion
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call in unison and harmony. We put out the clarion
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call separately that people should not sleep and think that
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California is not under constant attack by these fascist white
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supremacists that want to be in power. Richard Nixon came
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out of here. Ronald Reagan came out of here. You know,
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even Pete Wilson, you know, we can go through the
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list of Republican or Republican like Republicans. governors that have
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run this state. We know that there are parts of
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this state that are still darn near sundown towns. And
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the idea that we can be comfortable because of San Diego, L.A.,
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and the Bay, we've got to throw that away. We
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need to make sure that we do not give these
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people any quarter. And that is what I will say.
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No quarter whatsoever. That doesn't mean we're in love with
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the others. But we've got to be able to have
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the conditions to engage in battle. And we know someone
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that was too toxic for Trump is obviously not the condition.
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So what you have here is Rob Bonta, who the L.A.
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Times calls an establishment Democrat, even though he describes himself
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as a progressive, versus Michael Gates, who is a MAGA,
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you know, straight ahead. I mean, he worked for this
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MAGA administration. Why is that important? I mean, why is
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that an important thing? um, position to vote on in, in,
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you know, in California.
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This is the attorney for the state of California. So
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when we're talking about any types of, for example, employment
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discrimination cases that people are filing, um, with the department
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of fair employment and housing, and you're trying to get
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them to get engaged, that is all happening under this
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department of justice, right? That the attorney general is in
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charge of when we sometimes want to turn to the
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attorney general and, for those folks who are not abolitionists
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necessarily in the way that I am, that want cops
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to be prosecuted, that have killed our people when it's
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not happening on the local level. People turn to the
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state attorney general to see what they will do. Anything
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that has to do with civil rights, I mean, they
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are in charge of the Department of Justice. So all
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of those things that fall under the Department of Justice
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in California, which usually has the most liberal or progressives,
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Department of Justice is in the country. I'm not saying
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I would call them progressive, but that is the view, right?
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They're to the left of almost 49 other states. That
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changes completely if you have a MAGA person in that space.
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And what we see where they're trying to fight for
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the rights of white people and And, you know, reverse
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discrimination claims and going after all of the different programs
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that we have at the local school level to the
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college level that are supporting black students, they will sue.
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You understand? The state of California will be suing to
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fight against black people being able to have the gains
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that we have fought so hard for in this country,
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in this state, excuse me, including the most recent reparations
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bill filed. If you have a different person as a
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state attorney general, they can't overturn the law, but they
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sure can make it difficult for people to be able
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to execute the law. And a law that can't be
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executed is useless.
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Yeah. I don't want to get distracted, but Holistic, who's
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told me he's a Republican, says naturalized people have no worries.
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If you're an illegal, you should have fear. Keith Porter
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was a black man and a citizen, and he's dead.
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at the hands of an ICE agent. So I think
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that you are deluding yourself if you think that naturalized
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people have no worries when U.S. citizens are getting arrested.
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Let's talk about city attorney for a for that position
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was here this morning. I think we may have, uh,
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John McKinney. He's certainly been invited. He was at our California, uh,
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Voices Town Hall and was interviewed by, uh, Dr. Nicole
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Licorte there. You have a black man from South LA, um,
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you know, who is running. He is coming out of
473
00:28:23.490 --> 00:28:27.029
the DA's office. He's a prosecutor, um, and he is
474
00:28:27.230 --> 00:28:33.329
supported by Nathan Hockman, Steve Cooley, sort of the, Gil Garcetti,
475
00:28:33.349 --> 00:28:37.119
sort of the old guard of DAs, even though we're
476
00:28:37.130 --> 00:28:40.000
talking city attorney here. Then you have Marissa Roy, who
477
00:28:40.180 --> 00:28:45.180
is a white woman backed by DSA, backed by the
478
00:28:45.220 --> 00:28:50.299
Democratic Party, Working Families Party and others. Are people going
479
00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:51.819
to be confused by this, you think?
480
00:28:53.539 --> 00:28:56.180
Yeah, because I think people still get confused. I mean,
481
00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:58.180
I know folks, and I know you do, too, that
482
00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:01.519
literally sometimes they're just voting based upon a last name or,
483
00:29:01.539 --> 00:29:03.740
you know, a first name. They get surprised when Tyrone
484
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:07.440
turns out to be a white person that's written for judge.
485
00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:11.789
They get confused. Looking at names and just checking things out. Now,
486
00:29:11.809 --> 00:29:14.170
when they know it's a brother or a sister or
487
00:29:14.210 --> 00:29:18.250
a sibling, they're definitely going to be confused. So I think, yes,
488
00:29:18.329 --> 00:29:22.000
you know, they can cause confusion. It's important. Of course,
489
00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:25.539
for people to really, you know, study and to be aware,
490
00:29:25.579 --> 00:29:27.819
and this is what we are hoping. We want folks
491
00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:29.440
to get out and vote, and we're not trying to
492
00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:32.640
be judgy, right? But we definitely want people to get
493
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:35.329
out and vote and try to be as educated and
494
00:29:35.569 --> 00:29:39.970
engage a voter as possible as they are making those decisions.
495
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.839
making their ballot decisions. And I think that as we're
496
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.960
looking at the city attorney position, again, a critical position,
497
00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:50.519
that is the position that decides not just like whether
498
00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:54.039
or not they're going to go after protesters, whether or
499
00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:57.619
not they're going to go after police. who engage in
500
00:29:57.940 --> 00:30:00.859
crimes against our people, but also the people that decide,
501
00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:05.140
are you going to just code violation, harass Black people
502
00:30:05.309 --> 00:30:09.529
out of their businesses? Okay? Because I've had those cases, right?
503
00:30:09.549 --> 00:30:11.829
Well, give me an example. What does that look like?
504
00:30:11.890 --> 00:30:16.529
I mean, just you're nitpicking them about small things until
505
00:30:16.569 --> 00:30:19.400
they can no longer afford to do business. Is that
506
00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:19.799
what you mean?
507
00:30:20.630 --> 00:30:22.769
Correct. So it's like, you know, they have this code
508
00:30:22.789 --> 00:30:25.150
violation that, you know, of course, we want people to
509
00:30:25.190 --> 00:30:27.539
be at code, right? I'm not saying that. But it's
510
00:30:27.579 --> 00:30:30.240
like there may be a code violation about like where
511
00:30:30.259 --> 00:30:33.599
your exit sign is. And then you've got to move
512
00:30:33.619 --> 00:30:36.119
the exit sign. And let's say the person is trying
513
00:30:36.140 --> 00:30:38.380
to get that happening, but they, you know, times are tough.
514
00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:40.940
They're trying to collect the money to be able to,
515
00:30:41.140 --> 00:30:45.769
you know, satisfy or meet that code violation. In the meantime,
516
00:30:45.809 --> 00:30:48.289
you get another inspection and now it's like, oh, the
517
00:30:48.329 --> 00:30:50.329
thing is still not moved or maybe you did do it.
518
00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:53.160
but you didn't do it still according to code. And
519
00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:55.829
so all of that still adds up. And at some point,
520
00:30:56.190 --> 00:31:00.069
that becomes misdemeanors. And you actually are getting charged with
521
00:31:00.130 --> 00:31:04.619
a crime. And now having to navigate not just as
522
00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:08.259
a code piece, but as actual a court case that
523
00:31:08.299 --> 00:31:11.039
you have to go to court for, the city attorney
524
00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:14.839
decides that. And we know that that has been used
525
00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:20.029
in the past. as a bully club against black businesses, right,
526
00:31:20.109 --> 00:31:21.809
in this city of Los Angeles.
527
00:31:22.210 --> 00:31:25.740
We're talking about selective enforcement too, right? So if we
528
00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:29.400
want to push black businesses out of a gentrifying neighborhood,
529
00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:33.500
and we've seen that on the Crenshaw Corridor where landlords
530
00:31:33.539 --> 00:31:35.859
decide they can get more money from a different tenant
531
00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:38.599
and that business person is pushed out or given an
532
00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:42.119
unfair lease with the wrong city attorney, that could be
533
00:31:42.539 --> 00:31:45.049
even a bigger problem than it is now. Is that
534
00:31:45.069 --> 00:31:45.569
what you're saying?
535
00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:50.759
Absolutely. Going after slumlords, right? That is something that the
536
00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:53.359
city attorney does. Usually it's not to the point of
537
00:31:53.400 --> 00:31:57.339
a felony. It's usually still a misdemeanor. And so how
538
00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:02.789
connected are the city attorney to the landlord class? It's
539
00:32:02.930 --> 00:32:06.049
not just what people think it is, like, oh, you know,
540
00:32:06.130 --> 00:32:10.349
petty theft and bar fights or whatever. It also includes
541
00:32:10.490 --> 00:32:15.829
these pieces that actually deal more with the rules with
542
00:32:15.869 --> 00:32:18.970
regard to your everyday life than even the district attorney's
543
00:32:19.029 --> 00:32:22.150
office does. And it also has a civil part, remember.
544
00:32:22.430 --> 00:32:23.970
So it has a civil part as well. So when
545
00:32:23.990 --> 00:32:26.690
you sue the police, the person who you're fighting against
546
00:32:26.849 --> 00:32:29.799
is the city attorney who's determining, are we settling this?
547
00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:31.390
Are we fighting you tooth and nail?
548
00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:35.079
So when we look at this particular race, you've got
549
00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:40.059
John McKinney, who is coming out of the district attorney's office.
550
00:32:40.099 --> 00:32:44.819
He actually ran for D.A., did not win that. And
551
00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:48.180
then you have Marissa Roy, who's coming out of the
552
00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:52.630
state attorney general's office. So the incumbent actually didn't make it.
553
00:32:52.980 --> 00:32:57.289
So you've got these two people that are already not
554
00:32:57.329 --> 00:33:01.910
just attorneys, but they're already working in government. One's black,
555
00:33:02.029 --> 00:33:07.589
one's not. What else should we look at in terms
556
00:33:07.670 --> 00:33:12.369
of determining what about them might tell us Who would
557
00:33:12.390 --> 00:33:17.650
be more likely to stand up, for example, for black
558
00:33:17.670 --> 00:33:22.259
small businesses or small businesses in general? Who would be
559
00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:24.960
more on the side of renters? Who would be more
560
00:33:25.900 --> 00:33:28.799
on the side of justice when it comes to those
561
00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:33.119
smaller police matters and particularly protesters? Because it seems like
562
00:33:33.140 --> 00:33:34.690
we're going to be having a lot to protest.
563
00:33:36.269 --> 00:33:38.839
Absolutely. I mean, I think people should look at it.
564
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:41.440
It's not hard to find, right, to Google it. It's
565
00:33:41.480 --> 00:33:44.819
not hard to find like what they said, looking at
566
00:33:44.859 --> 00:33:47.000
whole pieces, not just like the little clips that you
567
00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:51.660
get on social media, but actually looking at the recordings
568
00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:54.569
of the different forums that they've been on, including like
569
00:33:54.609 --> 00:33:57.529
the KBLA forum, right? I think that people should look
570
00:33:57.549 --> 00:34:01.650
at who's endorsing folks because that does mean something, not
571
00:34:01.710 --> 00:34:05.430
just in terms of the industries that are endorsing, but
572
00:34:05.569 --> 00:34:08.070
also in terms of the individuals. And then I think
573
00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:11.170
people should remember what is on the ballot. Black progress
574
00:34:11.210 --> 00:34:13.489
is on the ballot. Body snatchers are on the ballot.
575
00:34:13.550 --> 00:34:17.480
Billionaires are on the ballot. There's a little body autonomy. There's,
576
00:34:17.500 --> 00:34:20.619
you know, protests and the ability to have free speech
577
00:34:20.659 --> 00:34:23.480
and democracy is on the ballot. Look at what you
578
00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:27.320
care about and then make your decisions based upon that,
579
00:34:27.420 --> 00:34:31.059
as opposed to just looking at race or just looking
580
00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:34.380
at gender or or those like identity pieces. Not to
581
00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:38.380
say that representation is not important, but representation is not
582
00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:41.500
just about like what people look like, right? Or what people,
583
00:34:41.539 --> 00:34:44.920
who people are. It's about who people are. Yeah.
584
00:34:45.099 --> 00:34:47.820
And part of representation is following the money because when
585
00:34:47.860 --> 00:34:51.380
we have big money coming from one particular place, we
586
00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:55.159
tend to represent those folks as well in a different
587
00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:55.780
kind of way.
588
00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:59.880
Right. Absolutely. And people need to think about all of that.
589
00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.260
And right now, there was a time when people could
590
00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:05.840
play fast and loose, and that was one of the
591
00:35:05.900 --> 00:35:07.920
wonderful things about being in California, is that you could
592
00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:11.429
play fast and loose, as opposed to other states where
593
00:35:11.469 --> 00:35:14.610
voters had to be really focused. This is not one
594
00:35:14.650 --> 00:35:17.829
of those times. We are under fascism in a way
595
00:35:18.230 --> 00:35:20.409
that we have not been. I'm not saying we've never
596
00:35:20.449 --> 00:35:22.269
been before, but in a way that we have not
597
00:35:22.329 --> 00:35:26.679
been for a minute. And we in California have to
598
00:35:26.719 --> 00:35:29.570
take it seriously, have to continue to to set the bar,
599
00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:33.250
have to continue to pay attention to what's happening because
600
00:35:33.309 --> 00:35:34.679
they certainly are coming at us.
601
00:35:35.949 --> 00:35:38.909
Attorney Nana Jamfi is with me this morning. You can
602
00:35:39.010 --> 00:35:44.050
find her at Instabaji. It's B-A-J-I, Black Alliance for Just Immigration.
603
00:35:44.070 --> 00:35:46.630
I think you're Attorney Nana everywhere. Maybe that's where I
604
00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:49.690
got it from, on Twitter, on Instagram. But Black Alliance
605
00:35:49.730 --> 00:35:55.329
for Just Immigration, Baji, is it Baji.org? I think so.
606
00:35:55.969 --> 00:35:59.110
You can find her everywhere. And we'll continue the conversation
607
00:35:59.150 --> 00:36:01.670
when we come forward. Got to ask you about Prop 39,
608
00:36:01.670 --> 00:36:06.460
of course, and tonight's mayoral debate. All that straight ahead
609
00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:09.900
on KBLA Talk 1580. We just have a couple minutes.
610
00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:12.920
Time flies when you're on the radio. Attorney Nana Jomfi
611
00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:17.429
is my guest. It's Baji.org, right? B-A-J-I.org?
612
00:36:18.730 --> 00:36:19.929
B-A-J-I.org.
613
00:36:20.130 --> 00:36:22.199
Absolutely. Got it.
614
00:36:22.210 --> 00:36:22.389
So.
615
00:36:23.659 --> 00:36:26.510
Prop 39, I know you're talking about this. One of
616
00:36:26.530 --> 00:36:28.849
the things it does, it would do if people vote
617
00:36:28.889 --> 00:36:32.809
yes on it, is make us verify our citizenship with
618
00:36:32.869 --> 00:36:35.309
a government database that is unspecified.
619
00:36:36.929 --> 00:36:39.730
Yeah, we just need to reject this wholeheartedly. I brag
620
00:36:39.829 --> 00:36:43.489
on California all the time about the ways in which
621
00:36:43.550 --> 00:36:45.760
it is so easy for people to be able to vote.
622
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:50.420
As Black people particularly, we need to remember that anything
623
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:54.039
that keeps us, anything that stands between us and casting
624
00:36:54.099 --> 00:36:58.389
our ballot is voter suppression. Voter IDs is voter suppression.
625
00:36:58.780 --> 00:37:01.550
It is the same kind of voter suppression as making
626
00:37:01.630 --> 00:37:03.489
us count how many jelly beans are in the jar.
627
00:37:04.349 --> 00:37:08.190
And we know, just from the real ID drama, that
628
00:37:08.210 --> 00:37:11.150
it's not easy for all Black folks, I'm talking about
629
00:37:11.230 --> 00:37:15.090
Black American folks, to be able to get an ID.
630
00:37:15.550 --> 00:37:18.349
Elderly folks find it difficult. Younger folks find it difficult.
631
00:37:18.389 --> 00:37:22.059
Disabled folks find it difficult. And there's no part of
632
00:37:22.119 --> 00:37:25.239
our communities that we should be throwing away and saying, hey,
633
00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:27.059
these people should, you know, too bad for you because
634
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:29.599
we're trying to save ourselves. That does not make sense.
635
00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:34.530
The way that California makes it easy to vote because
636
00:37:34.570 --> 00:37:38.409
you already, when you register, have to show all of that, right,
637
00:37:38.429 --> 00:37:40.969
in terms of, you know, your proof of citizenship and
638
00:37:41.010 --> 00:37:43.909
all of that happens at that time. We do not
639
00:37:43.949 --> 00:37:46.889
have 10-hour lines. We do not, you know, the things
640
00:37:46.929 --> 00:37:49.369
that we see across the country, it's not because the
641
00:37:49.409 --> 00:37:51.949
people there are stupid. It's because they have all these
642
00:37:52.010 --> 00:37:55.710
ridiculous voter ID laws and other voter suppression laws. Why
643
00:37:55.750 --> 00:37:57.989
we're trying to pick that up, I don't know, but
644
00:37:58.030 --> 00:37:58.719
we should not be.
645
00:37:59.389 --> 00:38:02.679
Okay, 60 seconds on tonight's mayoral debate. What are you
646
00:38:02.699 --> 00:38:06.059
looking for? It's the last one of this election season.
647
00:38:07.380 --> 00:38:09.019
Well, as I said, one of the things I'm looking
648
00:38:09.059 --> 00:38:11.360
for always is about body snatchers, which for me is
649
00:38:11.400 --> 00:38:15.099
police and ICE. I'm really interested in hearing... What the
650
00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:17.840
mayoral candidates are going to be saying about LAPD are
651
00:38:17.860 --> 00:38:20.480
going to be saying about ICE in LA. I'm concerned
652
00:38:20.500 --> 00:38:22.539
about what they're going to be saying about black folks
653
00:38:22.659 --> 00:38:26.079
particularly and what they plan to do to make sure
654
00:38:26.119 --> 00:38:29.199
that black people are not just like bygone culture in
655
00:38:29.219 --> 00:38:32.010
this city, but actually are thriving here in the ways
656
00:38:32.050 --> 00:38:34.909
that we deserve to thrive. And I'm looking to see
657
00:38:34.969 --> 00:38:37.329
what they're going to be saying other than, you know,
658
00:38:37.429 --> 00:38:39.949
Trump is terrible and awful. What is like the vision
659
00:38:39.989 --> 00:38:43.000
that they have? for what this city should be and
660
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:45.719
what this city will be under their leadership. Yep.
661
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.590
All great points. Um, attorney Nana Jaffe, thank you so
662
00:38:49.650 --> 00:38:51.829
much for stepping in this morning in the clutch. It's
663
00:38:51.889 --> 00:38:52.789
much appreciated.
664
00:38:53.750 --> 00:38:56.409
Thank you. Appreciate you. It's always good to be on.
665
00:38:57.429 --> 00:38:59.550
And it's great to have you on. Tavis Smiley's got
666
00:38:59.590 --> 00:39:04.280
a long lineup of great guests today, including, um, The
667
00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:09.880
presumable next senator out of Florida, Angie Nixon, he's got
668
00:39:09.900 --> 00:39:11.719
a great lineup. You don't want to miss that show.
669
00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:17.210
You can look for me on social media at deprimeradio, D-I-P-R-I-M-A,
670
00:39:17.690 --> 00:39:20.170
and then radio. Let's talk about it off the air
671
00:39:20.269 --> 00:39:22.710
as well as on the air. I always love chopping
672
00:39:22.769 --> 00:39:26.690
it up with you. The station is at KBLA 1580 everywhere,
673
00:39:26.809 --> 00:39:29.969
KBLA 1580 everywhere. When you like, when you follow, when
674
00:39:30.019 --> 00:39:33.699
you subscribe, when you download our app, you make us stronger.
675
00:39:33.800 --> 00:39:38.809
So let's engage virtually as well as in real life.
676
00:39:39.630 --> 00:39:43.329
Like my father, the former poet laureate of New Jersey,
677
00:39:43.869 --> 00:39:47.630
Mary Baraka once said, a person is either free or
678
00:39:47.670 --> 00:39:50.829
they are not free. There can be no apprenticeship for freedom.
679
00:39:51.230 --> 00:39:54.889
Until tomorrow, KBLA delegation, one love.