Highly Melanated Podcast
Hosted by PJ, Blair & Red A safe space for you to enjoy every bit of your melanin no matter how "melanated" you are in skin tone, we are ALL Highly Melanated.Come enjoy funny and dynamic conversations that people of color face on a day to day basis with various topics such as loving ourselves, knowing who we are as a people and uplifting each other with a mix of class and rachetness (CLATCHETNESS)
Highly Melanated Podcast
Getting Punched In The Throat With Words w/ Jaquita
Prepare to be inspired as we break down the walls of self-identity and determination in this powerful episode, featuring the sharp insights of political strategist Jaquita. We kick off with a bold message about taking control of our dreams and not letting others define us. Blair's infectious enthusiasm for the University of Michigan, coupled with Pj's vibrant New York energy, sets a dynamic stage for our conversation. Jaquita's impactful words lead us into a series of enlightening discussions, making this a must-listen for anyone passionate about empowerment and authenticity.
Join us as we catch up with our co-hosts and share some heartfelt life updates. Jaquita gives a shoutout to the Fugees and recounts her recent experience with COVID that kept her from attending the DNC in person. Blair, sporting her new braids, brings a fresh vibe, while another co-host amusingly shares the trials of growing a beard and managing a troublesome dog during a move. We celebrate a co-host's 40th birthday travels to Paris, exploring the city's cultural richness and the warm acceptance felt there. Our conversation then shifts to discussing the racial biases in school curriculums and the surprising progressiveness in Texas politics, driven by Jaquita's personal journey and advocacy.
We delve deep into the evolving socio-political landscape of Texas, exploring everything from voter suppression to the role of Gen Z in driving change. Jaquita's experiences moving to Texas highlight the challenges and unexpected progressiveness in cities like Austin. We discuss the complex dynamics of Texas politics, including the influence of older generations and the burgeoning diversity in cities like Houston. Wrapping up, we emphasize the critical power of the Black voting bloc and the significant role Black women play in leading societal change. This episode is a compelling reminder of our collective responsibility in the electoral process and the importance of challenging biases in political representation.
MUSIC CLIPS -- WE DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE FOLLOWING
ELLIS MIAH -- KTFDD
RITA BRENT - KAMALA (REMIX)
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We have to know that sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open, and sometimes they won't, and then you need to kick that fucking door down. My mother would say to me don't you ever let anybody tell you who you are. You tell them who you are. Don't ever carry as a personal burden your capacity to do whatever you dream and aspire to do. Sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open, sometimes they won't, and then you need to kick that, kick that, kick that, kick that, kick that fucking door down, kick that fucking door down, kick that fucking door down, hit that fucking door down, down, down, down, down, down down. We, we, we, we, we hit that fucking door down. We, we, we, we, we hit that fucking door down. We, we, we, we, we hit that fucking door down.
Speaker 2:We, we, we, we, we hit that fucking door down. We pick that up. I don't know what it is, but I just love being black BJ here.
Speaker 3:What up doe? It's your girl, Blair. You know, my melanin was popping yesterday, it's popping today and it's sure enough going to be popping tomorrow. It's your boy Red.
Speaker 2:And you're listening to the episode of highly melanated podcast, the safe space where it's okay. I was trying not to say demure, but that was like the first thing that popped in my head. But I really don't. In a safe space where it's okay to not be demure, still be mindful, but be your fucking self.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:Very.
Speaker 4:New York very dead ass.
Speaker 2:It's being a very New York, very dead ass. Pj is back with a jump off. Been gone for a minute but we're back.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I'm just about to be hard.
Speaker 4:Um, I don't even know. I don't even know what I'm gonna say. What was this? Where'd you even come with that from?
Speaker 2:that's. You said new york, I had something different, so I had a little kim lyric I don't even have any songs in my head right now.
Speaker 4:Red think of any random French song. There you go. That's what I got in my head right now.
Speaker 3:Sorry, red and Blair, ha ha, Ha, ha, what, what? Is that I got nothing. Blair is here and Blair is going to. Just because it is that time of year for people to prepare to get sick of me, I'm going to say all hail, go blue, thank you.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, here we go, oh yeah, going to say all hail go blue.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, here we go, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Hail to the victors. Valiant Hail to the conquering heroes. Hail hail Michigan, the leaders and best. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:University of Michigan. Let's all just let that be known.
Speaker 6:Yeah, yeah yeah, I got that and, as you can hear, the only one, the number one don't even waste your time trying to compete with me no one else in this world can think like me there she goes, she got it got her in early.
Speaker 3:It was me this time can think like me, there she goes, she got it, got her in early.
Speaker 2:It was me. This time it was me. I did it for you, pj, I love it and, as you can hear, guys, we have a guest on the mic. She is a political strategist and she loves punching people in their throats with her words.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah, hi, I'm Jaquita, and what's my song? I'm gonna go Jersey with the Fugees Okay, fugees and I don't even know what to sing from there right now. But that's just the song in my head. What's the word that?
Speaker 3:works. Yep, that part that works.
Speaker 4:That part Better than my French song. I'm going to have to come back with one later. I'll close out one with a song because my head was blank, but we love the Fugees, so welcome to Coita.
Speaker 2:We love the Fugees, even though you know.
Speaker 4:I do know.
Speaker 5:Let's leave it on a high note.
Speaker 3:Let's keep it cute.
Speaker 6:Yes, please.
Speaker 4:Keep it demure. Oh god, you are very mindful. We gonna run that into the ground. Lord, y'all will it's too fun.
Speaker 2:So, guys, how have you guys been? So listeners out there, okay, hey y'all. I know y'all are tired of hearing us say that life is life and we have not been as consistent. But life is life and we're just glad that you are here. So, those of you who are here for the first time, hey, niggas, those of you who have been with us from the beginning or whenever you came on board, what's up? Nigga, and for those of you who are going to forward this to other people, hey guys.
Speaker 4:We're so happy to have you here.
Speaker 2:We're so happy to have you here, but how have you guys been and then Ladies, first Go ahead.
Speaker 4:Blair Tell them.
Speaker 3:I've been good just um, you know, keeping my head on a swivel and uh, checking for these hoes.
Speaker 2:There you go, period I want everybody to know while she says this uh, as she looks so gorgeous with her new braids you know she normally rocks her natural big afro-ish stylish hair. Hey yo braids, and now she's, you know.
Speaker 3:Not, hey, yo braids.
Speaker 2:She came on the camera swinging her hair like she looks amazing, as usual.
Speaker 3:Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate y'all, thank you.
Speaker 2:What about you, ladies? First Jaquita.
Speaker 5:I mean it ain't been that bad. I did have COVID, like when I should have been at the DNC, and I feel some kind of way about that, but I got to roast them. You know from my house, so it was pretty nice getting my PJs roasted. But I'm doing better now. Life has been pretty good since I got healthier good.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty sure there were people who had COVID and traveled anyway I know. Thank you for not being one of them.
Speaker 3:I can't stand it because then I would have came back with COVID either way, I would have been screwed thank you for being a responsible citizen.
Speaker 2:We appreciate it what a wonderful civil servant very mindful very demure.
Speaker 5:That's the only time I'm able to I've been all right.
Speaker 2:uh, we're gonna close this out with you because you're the one who's been doing everything, but I've been all right. Um, tired myself, um, doing some rearranging, actually trying to move, um, this dog is driving me crazy, but you know we keep pushing. I'm trying my best to grow a beard the way Red has his, had his, and it's just taking forever to get here and it's about to get cut off. It never makes it past the seventh month.
Speaker 4:This is month seven. Damn too bad. Well, it's coming along. It's definitely month. This is month seven. Well, it's coming along. It's definitely more than last time that we got together. It's coming along.
Speaker 2:And you, sir, been around the world.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, lisa.
Speaker 2:Stanfield version, not the Diddy version yeah.
Speaker 4:I've been traveling. So, for those of you who didn't, I guess, listen to the last podcast episode, but I had a birthday coming up, which has already come and gone. I turned 40, so I decided that I was going to head on out. Yes, thank you, thank you. I decided I was going to head on out to travel a little bit and go to Paris, so I went right after the Olympics. I went for like six days so I went around, saw the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Chateau de Versailles, I mean just all of the big major sites, and it's such a beautiful city. So I've been really good. I've been really good, and then I've been getting a lot of, you know, just, I guess, entertainment-wise.
Speaker 4:I've just been getting a lot of auditions and things of that nature so I, I'm, I am not, I am counting my blessings and I'm very thankful.
Speaker 2:So thank you ladies and gentlemen, he is right now being demure, um, because he went to paris, but he was coming from somewhere else, because he has been skipping and trolloping all around the world. Not trolloping, wow your nasty little trollop nose I was about to say that's what it is.
Speaker 3:That's what it's giving.
Speaker 2:Where did you go before that?
Speaker 4:Gaiman's.
Speaker 1:He says it like we've all been in.
Speaker 5:How am I supposed to say?
Speaker 4:it. There's no other way to say it. I went to the Cayman Islands Caymans.
Speaker 5:So wait okay.
Speaker 2:So before we get on the first name basis, right. You know the prime minister and everything Do they have? Prime minister, those are the times. Let me ask you a question before we even move on to the next part. What would you say the biggest difference between Americans and French are? In your opinion, the American Does it matter if they're black or white. Is it safe for black people?
Speaker 4:No, there's a lot of black people that are over there and there's a lot of interracial couples. Remember, earlier on, when we were talking, I said there's a lot of couples throuples, it's a city that's very big on love, but there's a lot of couples, throuples, it's. It's a city that's very big on love, but there's a lot of interracial, uh, couples out there. So, um, yes, it's, it's fine for us I'm looking for flights now.
Speaker 2:I see your face. I'm about to throw up. I want to be in the throuple Go ahead.
Speaker 4:But I think the biggest thing, the biggest difference, like if we're talking about like surface level stuff that I see between people in France versus United States, is that they're very mindful, at least for Paris. They're very mindful about their city. The city is very much so, the city is very artistically like charged, and so they're very much so about that. They will, they want everything a certain way and they will protest. It's like oh, we want to put a skyscraper here. The Parisians there, they're like no, you will not, you will not. And so they're very, they're very particular about how everything is laid out, because they understand the value in having their, their Paris the way that it is. I don't know if that's all of France, but for Paris itself they're very, they're very particular about that. As opposed to us, we, we're just like build anywhere.
Speaker 2:Did you go to the hood of Paris? Because I'm curious. I'm always curious about what other countries' hoods look like.
Speaker 4:I don't know, I don't know, I don't know where I was at. I was just walking around. I was like ooh food and just sit down and just ate. I stayed on Champs Elyse. I stayed off of Champ Solis on Rue Washington.
Speaker 3:Oh.
Speaker 4:I'm tired of the end. You know, we, we and all that good stuff, baby girl.
Speaker 3:It's the baby girl for me, Right? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4:But I don't know that was such a weird segue.
Speaker 1:I don't know what you're.
Speaker 4:I mean well, alright, I will say this, though so typically, you know, I know you're new to the podcast, but we also do question of the week. So question of the week, question of the week, your questions as they pertain to you prospectively and introspectively. We talked about Paris and we talked about it kind of being the city of love and I saw those couples and throuples that were walking around. I've seen a new phenomenon that was popping up on my Instagram feed recently and I want to know if y'all agree with it.
Speaker 3:A lot of people who are, these days, of a certain age are getting tired of explaining themselves. Sorry, we're just getting tired.
Speaker 6:Let me finish.
Speaker 2:Sorry, that's how it goes yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah, me finish. Sorry, this is how it goes. Yeah, yeah, are getting tired of explaining themselves and going through the whole rigmarole of like, what's your fate of color? What do you like to do? Um, what you know, get to know me and the things that you should know, my red flags, my green flags, all of this stuff like that. So people are pre-typing up all of that stuff in a notepad and when someone is serious about whether or not they they are, they want to get to know this person. They go, oh, get to know me, and they'd send them that, that little document which could be a page, two page, three page. So the question of the week is do you agree with that? Is that something that you could see yourself doing? Because I don't know if I could do that. It's so for me it's so informal. I'm more like what's the point if you don't actually find out all in between? But some people are like here's the manual to me.
Speaker 5:Can I?
Speaker 4:go first.
Speaker 5:Oh, absolutely, I heard Blair.
Speaker 3:I just feel like I see where they're coming from with that, because, one, I hate dating, two, I hate small talk and three, I do hate repeating myself. So I see where we're coming from with that, but I I can also see that this kind of like approach one day is normalized uh, but I don't think we're there yet. I don't think we're there yet, but I can see, I can see it happening, like I can see there even being like an app that like gets developed where, like, in order to even like match with somebody, you have to like you have to have x, y and z your profile, your, and they have to have theirs in order for you guys even like match in the first place, and it has like all like that basic like kind of information in it. Like I see that kind of thing happening. I just don't think that we're there right now not you exchanging resumes.
Speaker 4:I'm down the clown I loved it essentially I'm down the clown.
Speaker 3:and you know the other reason why I kind of do, um, I kind of love it because I love the idea of an exit survey for when you break up Another exit survey.
Speaker 2:She's bringing management skills into a relationship.
Speaker 3:I absolutely kind of love, come back. I love the idea of an exit survey for when you break up with somebody.
Speaker 3:Especially if you break up on somebody especially you know, especially if you know, like you break up on good terms. It's like because, at the end of the day, like you know it's, it's, it's a learning thing, like I want to. I want to learn, I want to get better, I want to be better for the next relationship. So who best to tell me, like, what areas of improvement I might possibly want to focus on than the person that I was last with?
Speaker 5:I like that. I like that and my build on it is like this If I tell you my boundaries red flags, green flags, all the things you got a little resume right off cup. Are you playing in my face? Anyway, I could be out in 24. I ain't got to wait to leave you because you knew that that would piss me off. I used you read the resume. Stop playing with me, play with your mama. Get out my face. This was great, bye.
Speaker 5:Before she punches you in your throat I'm really gonna do it, literally not with to do it.
Speaker 2:Because if y'all could only see, of course you know as she was like if you play in my face and she had that finger pointing, she almost had that Jada Pinkett finger from who said it? Off that pinky finger.
Speaker 5:That's all I'm saying, like I'm going to pay attention to the person's thing, like I'm not going to do the things that you've listed. That clearly piss you off. So I expect the same in kind. And if you get it and you're like, eh, she'll be fine if I do no, delete and block immediately. And I appreciate having this and there's an XA service that I will definitely be filling out saying and did not respect my boundaries. Knew them, didn't respect them. Y'all should know for the future not a relationship.
Speaker 5:Yelp review yes yes, I bet you fuckboyism ends overnight behind them. Yelp reviews.
Speaker 4:I bet you it ends overnight.
Speaker 2:I don't think so yeah, no, because you know how people like misread things and you know can not understand. I've you know, you know what I've done and I think this is like the benefits of being a podcaster. I just sent them a few episodes, or I sent them an episode from the dv project, which is really like personal, so like you get to know if you want to know more about me and I don't have the time to like, because dating is especially when you have a story if you have trauma and you have to keep rehashing trauma to someone else and you could be completely over it, but they're like, oh my God, I'm so sorry, don't be.
Speaker 2:But this is important information for you to know that these things um, I will. I saw that I. I was like about me uh, here's my, here's my about me. Listen to this. Here's my red flags. Don't do this, don't do that. I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that. Are you okay with it? No, don't waste your time because I'm not going to waste mine.
Speaker 4:I mean, I'll leave it on this because I feel like this is a whole topic in itself, but I just don't like it because I think it leaves too much room for it to be too straightforward and for people not to have conversations. Conversations, because that's the problem, right? Someone like yourself, blair, or you I mean, I just met you as a creator, but you pj like for some of the four of us, someone like us, where we're able to use a lot of different techniques, whether it be writing and communication and talking, and emotional intelligence and awareness yes, we could use that, right, because there's another tool. But there's some people that that's all they got. So here you did, you wrote this four page letter and you enclosed it with a kiss and the person read the first line of it and didn't read the rest of it, and it still fell on deaf ears.
Speaker 4:And this is why I was saying, jakquita, I don't think that that will get rid of fuckboyism overnight. I think it'll be helpful, but I think that there's still gonna be people that won't read it. I think that there's still gonna be people who write all of that and still are enablers. I think that there's people that will write all that stuff and say I need this, and then you turn around and go but girl, you just said that you needed this. Why are you now with him and having baby mama drama issues? So I just think it's funny, though, that there's this whole phenomenon there, because me personally, if anybody came up to me with that and they said, hey, in order to get to know me, you got to read this, I ain't reading that shit.
Speaker 2:Next, but also there are those people, me included. Sometimes, depending on how far you go, I'll go Listen, like Michelle said, but not, like Michelle said, when you go low, I'm going to go to the basement. So, and you know we are approaching. You know, right now in Virgo season, we can skip past this, but as Libra season approaches, I will be dropping a little bit of video every single day for the month of September. I mean October and November. Wait, september and October. Excuse me, scorpio, just popped out A little bit about us. Like you know, I will poke the bear. Um, that's my fuck boy sometimes.
Speaker 2:If I know this is a problem for you and you don't listen to me, all right, so apparently you're the type person who can only understand if it's done to you um, so here, but then at the same time, I ain't doing all that. I'm I'm. I'm at this right age, ripe age of 40, something, um, I'm good come on 40 something I'm about to be 44.
Speaker 2:I'm good come on 44 all right, 44 and so I. It's so funny that you even said this, because you know, like I, I just started like thinking I was gonna get to know someone and immediately, immediately, I was just like, yeah, this ain't gonna work immediately though and that's why low-key.
Speaker 5:I want to say to red like I love that for the mother people if they, if they using it to like am I wrong? I love that for the other people. You knew what you wrote and you went, got something else. I love that for you. I love that for you those of you who can't use the tool right. I love that for you. I love that for you, those of you who can't use the tool right. I love that for you. That is your business. That ain't my business. Would I like it for me? Yes, if everybody else can't make it work, I'll be like that's the damn problem. You gotta find another app. This one ain't for you. Try Tinder. This is true.
Speaker 4:Here you're gonna need to be able to read and write here in the four-page letter app.
Speaker 5:This song should play when the app blows up. I would be in that phone, yep.
Speaker 4:Find your SES match. Y'all been creating this.
Speaker 5:I feel like just trademark before this really go down. Get some money on the back end In 10 years when they like oh, we need to trademark this name, who else owns it?
Speaker 1:Red.
Speaker 5:Red Now they got to pay Red Listen. I know it ain't got a pain in red.
Speaker 2:Listen, I know it ain't gonna work if I read your message and there's no punctuation and apparently you know yeah, okay, so that's another thing.
Speaker 4:You sitting there be like oh my God, I think they French Like no.
Speaker 5:Cause it's a red sign. It's a red sign, why Well?
Speaker 2:Well, why well well as you guys have gotten to know a little bit about our guest here, jaquita. So Jaquita tell us a little bit about you. How did you get into the profession that you're in or the area of expertise that you fall under?
Speaker 5:what's wild is punching people in the throat. That's what happened with us. I moved to Texas and we went from living in the hood to like the suburbs, like smack in the middle of the suburbs, right, and my children are going to suburban schools for the first time and my son comes home with a Slaves Like the Beeslaves homework assignment. Wow, that's new to me. And yeah, they were sending packets home to the school. Like, not only did you like the beeslaves, you taught Master how to fry chicken and how to grow okra, and Swahili words like Mandingo. And, yeah, like this in his elementary school packet, like he's in the fifth grade. Where was this? This is in Georgetown, texas. Like they know, I don't cuss them out, drag them here to there, but on this one. But this is how it started, because I'm going to the school. Like I know it's a bunch of parents already lined up to cuss y'all out about this.
Speaker 5:Wait, it's just me. Nobody else thought this was a problem that y'all sent this home as homework. Nobody else, I don't care, nobody else, I don't care. I want the superintendent down here. I don't care, I want the superintendent down here. I want the principal, I want everybody's job. People don't do that. You don't get to just meet the superintendent. Okay, I'm coming to his house. It's a small town. I know where y'all live.
Speaker 3:Y'all stuff is posted up.
Speaker 2:You better act like you're still from up north. All right, listen.
Speaker 3:Look, I got Google Maps. Act like you're still from up north, all right, listen. Look, I got Google Maps. Where is?
Speaker 5:it. I ran into this dude at the diner and I was like you know, y'all being racist at this, like I was like clocking everybody the mayor, the principals, the superintendents I'm like I'm going to find you and when I see you it's going to be disrespect. With all due disrespect, I want some of y'all fired for real. I thought this is how everybody talked. Like you, mad, y'all doing some wild stuff. This ain't shocking. But to this town of I think it was like 50,000 people at the time. They were like this Black lady is crazy. Do y'all know any Black people that could go talk to her? Get her to come down off this? And yeah, they sent black people to talk to me and I had to cuss them out too.
Speaker 5:Yes, multiple times they talked to you about what About me cussing them out about what they were teaching our kids? So I decided to run for school board because they wasn't listening to me. I was like y'all not listening to me. I know that's right.
Speaker 4:I was like y'all not listening to me, I know that's right.
Speaker 5:I want everybody fired. I meant what I said by fired. So if I become your boss, guess what you fired, guess what you going to get fired. And I'm pointing to old dude like you're the one coming to see you Because you could have just pulled this curriculum. What they did instead was say my son didn't have to do it, my son didn't have to do this homework and he wasn't going to get penalized for not doing this packet because it was a packet. It was a packet.
Speaker 3:Can you, can you, can we? I'm sorry there's so much to unpack here.
Speaker 4:Before you even say anything, blair, I just want to describe to everybody the face that everybody has, because we all know that this is a podcast, right, so you can't see our faces, but our faces are freaking, turned upside down inside out. Okay, because what the fuck? What in the entire fuck.
Speaker 3:So this homework packet? He made it very clear it was a packet not just like one sheet front and back like there was a staple in this bitch.
Speaker 5:Yep, okay, yep okay. Five, six pages. I still have it in an email somewhere what? Because every time I bring this up.
Speaker 3:I'm like I want people to know what was the like, what was like an example of, like a, a question that was on this packet. Like what?
Speaker 5:was you you didn't have to do a question. You were supposed to do an essay about the package. After reading about the slaves loving everybody.
Speaker 3:So it was a paragraph that talked about that explicitly said slaves enjoyed being slaves.
Speaker 5:Yes, and it was explicitly saying not only did they enjoy being slaves, yes, and it was explicitly saying not only did they enjoy being slaves, they had a good time with their peaceful masters, they had a good time. They ate food that they brought. They brought fried chicken over. This is in the packet on the ships. I was like how are you bringing over fried chicken? How are you bringing over?
Speaker 2:Over the Atlantic.
Speaker 5:Over the ocean. Right, you taught them how to make okra sweet potatoes. When I say Mandingo, they were talking about religions, like voodoo was brought over on the ship. So not only was it like misrepresenting slavery, it was misrepresenting, but it was just outright lies.
Speaker 3:I thought I was being punk.
Speaker 5:I thought Ashton Kutcher was going to come out of somewhere and be like, hey, we got you. No, they were dead ass.
Speaker 2:And I think this is partially why they don't really want or don't even understand what critical race theory is. No, this is how the erasure of our history begins. And then, you know, kids grow up and they don't know anything else but what they're taught.
Speaker 4:That's correct, and this is making me very internally upset because, yeah, I never knew this.
Speaker 3:I mean, I've heard of stuff like this before, but it's crazy to hear it firsthand from somebody that experienced it Firsthand, and while we're all genuinely upset like this before, but it's, it's it's crazy to hear it firsthand, firsthand, that experience and and while, and while we're we're all genuinely upset about it.
Speaker 4:I'm just upset because I'm thinking. I'm thinking about my niece, right, because I don't have kids, I don't have kids yet, but I'm sitting here looking at, I'm looking looking at y'all and I'm like will she have to encounter this? Because I can only imagine if that has to come up, because I just know between myself, my sister, my parents are going to go down there and be like hold up.
Speaker 2:I'm surprised that no other Black parent had anything to say.
Speaker 5:So first nobody was reading the packet, yeah. The kids just did their homework and sent it in right. My son, who's from Jersey and is my son, was like mom. You see this, this can't be real. I don't have to read this, right, because this is what I'm like. I'm like you're making up stories. No one would ever put that in.
Speaker 3:But that's what I see Shout out to your son.
Speaker 4:Shout out to that young man for being like this don't sound right.
Speaker 5:This ain't right, right. Every other kid, because there was kids in his class in our apartment complex and all their parents thought I was doing too much. Just do the homework. What's the big deal? So what? They lie and they always lie. That's what I got from everybody. What so? When I ran for office the first time, when I say none of them would support me, none of them would support me, none of them would support me and I still only lost by like 400 votes that first time, and that's when they got scared because it was like yo, how'd she get so close?
Speaker 5:like her nobody even likes her, nobody's supporting her. She got that close. They were like, yeah, nah, we got to take this seriously. So every race after that they was never playing with me. I lost every race after that. In the last race I lost by only 11. I'm still pissed about that one because I'm like we was. We was right there, and that's when I ran for city council, mainly because when I was running for school board, I realized that a lot of what was happening with those textbooks and things they were approved curriculum by the state of Texas, so all the schools were getting this. And then I find out that because Texas prints the books for everybody, everybody is getting the bullshit depending on like but if you New York, california, new Jersey, massachusetts, like, y'all are opting out and getting different curriculums and it's, like you know, eight or nine states that are doing that, but the rest of the majority of the states are getting their curriculum from Texas.
Speaker 2:I was just watching a video not too long ago because I remember I was telling you before or maybe I wasn't, but I was thinking about, like, what states I want to move to. Yeah, I was, and I was like Texas was always one of those that just popped my head. I've never been there, have really no desire to go to any state. It's an open carry state, because I don't trust people with guns. I know that's true, but, um, and also I'm black, um, but I was just watching something not too long ago about how Texas before we, like we were trying to make Texas its own country before so, it operates very different from the rest of the country.
Speaker 2:I have questions in regards to how do you make change in a state that runs as ass backwards as it does without resistance from its constituents.
Speaker 5:You know what's interesting? I'm gonna say this and people probably gonna be pissed when they hear me say this let him be mad son, sorry, no, they're gonna be mad man.
Speaker 3:Texas is more progressive than new jersey was wow, oh, you're one of the people that are mad, huh pj and when I say when I say it's not even close, it's not even close.
Speaker 5:When I move to texas, like the racism is where it's wild right because it's so systemic. They're all just and I won't say all, but a lot of people are just accepting of it like whatever. But white people I encountered in jersey versus white people I encounter in texas are some different white people. Mr redneck hillbilly got a confederate sign on his truck. Is gonna pull over on the side of road, fix my tire, put some gas in that bad boy. Make sure I get to the gas station. If I need more, tell me. Have a good day, nigga. That on me it's a good thing.
Speaker 5:I'm just saying I've been spit on in Jersey. I've been taught like the level of hate that white people have for black people in Jersey is extreme and I thought it was going to be the same way when I got to Texas. And I'm like that white people have for black people in Jersey is extreme and I thought it was going to be the same way when I got to Texas. And I'm like I'm not. I've never had this much support for progressive ideas, my first time seeing openly out lesbians in the street in the suburbs in Texas, just out, hugged up, kissed up, touched up, I'm like ain't nobody that I got.
Speaker 5:Where am I. This is not a problem. This is crazy. And don't get me started on Austin you. It might not be like that in all of Texas, but I live in the Austin area and man I was looking up what they about that smoke. They are going to march. The white people going to be in these streets cussing out the cops, like they taking it two piece in biscuits every time something pop off and they don't even have to pop off in Texas and they out there like nah, we want the smoke.
Speaker 2:This is what happens when someone from the Tri-State area moves to Texas Like no matter what.
Speaker 5:I'm shocked Every time. I'm shocked too Every time. I'm like yo. The last Black Lives Matter protest I didn't even organize. Some white girl named Lisa did Because I was tired. I was like I'm not doing another thing, I'm tired and Lisa's like I got it and she's working out the cops is looking at me. Yeah, you started up. No, go see Lisa. Lisa did it. Go see Lisa.
Speaker 4:I'm going to start saying that. Go see Lisa.
Speaker 3:Okay, lisa, lisa was out there she had her bullhorn.
Speaker 5:She got a thousand people down on that square, had them marching. No justice and with the shit okay but I can.
Speaker 4:You know it's funny that you say that, but I can also kind of see it, because even even as conservative a state as we think texas is, it's also a state that has a lot of growth and so a lot of people are moving there. And the people that are moving are moving for jobs, and the people who are jobs are people who are younger and so they have a different tolerance level. So if you have a bunch of people that are moving there, right, it's not that old sense of mentality. Sure, there might be still racist people I mean, racist people are everywhere but you know, it's still going to be different because they are like the next generation forward and their tolerances and their views are different.
Speaker 2:So I can see what you're saying, not if they're getting textbook works that says you know you're, but that's not no, no, but that's you know.
Speaker 4:That's still different, because that's coming from the state of Texas, but that's not. But that's, that's not what he said. No, no, but that's you know, that's still different, because that's coming from the state of texas. Yeah, that's coming from the older constituents that are saying this is what it needs to be, to go back and reverse the things the way that they need to be for conservatism.
Speaker 5:That that's, that's what, what that's coming from I'm gonna tell you I think it's the opposite. I think it's the opposite. I think it's the opposite, even though I think the new people moving in are changing policy and they were pushing through change. These old heads, these Ann Richards, barbara, these back in the day Democrats that have been here for generations in Texas, they be out here while it's the young Becky's, young Karen's that be at the ledge talking about keep this stuff out of my child's. They're my age, they're in their 40s, they're mad that they look like they're 85 and it's nobody else's fault but theirs for being so hateful. And they're at the ledge trying to get their kids to not know that grandma and grandpa wasn't shit. So, but their grandmothers and grandfathers, these are old school, like when I say I got into the most trouble hanging out in Sun City.
Speaker 5:And Sun City is an entirely elderly community inside of Texas that runs like its own city. The governor will not campaign without stopping in Sun City. He's that scared of these old people. And these old people don't play. They don't play. They've been dragging them to hell and doing it while they hide. Why do they have so much access to weed? Please don't get me started. I really think that's the issue with elderly in Texas. They would be more conservative if it wasn't for the fact that weed is illegal in texas because of conservatives. They want they weed.
Speaker 2:I mean that I mean let them have it.
Speaker 5:Let them have it they're the chillest old people you've ever seen, but don't piss them off around history and not like that then. Then they're after capital too and they're arguing with their children. Grandkids is cool, but their own kids ain't shit. And I'm like how'd you raise the ain't shit kid if you were civil rights supporter?
Speaker 2:Let me ask you a question. Do you think that, because a lot of people always talk about the state of texas, right?
Speaker 5:I don't even know how we got here but we're here um now, we're just shitting on texas they know what I'm saying. It's true.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not really shitting on because I still still want to learn more about Texas, but I know it's just hot and you know the way I perspire it's like Luthas for the first note it's disrespectfully hot for real. Do you ever think that Texas is ever going to switch to blue? Is it always going to be a red state?
Speaker 5:I think for the next four years at least, we'll stay red. They have gerrymandered, they just have legalized voter discrimination here in Texas and the Supreme Court, being what it is, has allowed it. So each challenge, even if it gets thrown out, it takes them years to enforce. So they're just getting away with voter suppression. They kicked out the entire elected school board for Harris County, which is Houston, which is the biggest school district in the world, and they kicked out every elected official and just brought in a board that they felt like and started siphoning off that money to people. In Colorado that happened this year. The governor just said no, we don't like that. Y'all are doing better for those black kids in Houston. We're going to shut this down and was able to. While that's still happening, I don't think we're going to go blue.
Speaker 5:But their problem is these millennials, not these millennials. These Gen Z kids don't care nothing about their lives, they don't care nothing about voting, they don't care nothing about civil discourse. I think they push these kids a little too far with all these bathroom bills and these abortion bills. And these kids, my kids, are in school. You can't have your phone, you can't have nothing, you are in jail, you're locked in there. You're locked in there. You're locked in there with your teacher and they call it safety. You're from school shooters, but it's like you locked me in here with a school shooter. So how's this safe? They coming in with me, they going on the drills with me. They know exactly what your plan is. This don't make sense. But you got all the things that we would need to make sure you were alive with you, and these kids are hot about it and I'm just like you can only push young people so far. Historically, young people start every revolution that's been known to man.
Speaker 2:People don't even realize that again, martin Luther King was, in his early 20s, a baby.
Speaker 5:He was a baby. Snake Snake was teenagers.
Speaker 2:They may have looked like they were well into their 30s and almost 40s, but you know they were.
Speaker 3:That's what stress will do to you.
Speaker 4:I was about to say stress does that?
Speaker 5:They was carrying the worlds on their backs as kids. And these Gen Z kids, they're not playing with them and they may not even take it to the street, but will they hack your system locally, absolutely, and can, and release your text messages from your mistress? Yep, they're wilding out here. So I feel like they got a couple of years before they had them hemmed up and they're not going to have a choice but to have free and clear elections in Texas. And the moment they have free and clear elections in Texas, texas flips blue.
Speaker 5:It's one of the most diverse states in the country. Houston is the most diverse city in the country, even more diverse than New York City, and that's wild. Everybody, every kind of person, lives down here Houston. I'm in Houston right now. First of all, it's huge why this is a state. Houston is a state. It's going to take you two, three hours, casually, to get from one side to the other and you're still in Houston.
Speaker 5:But when I say that port, this Gulf of Mexico being right here, everybody just comes in. Everybody, just come in. Ain't nobody? I'm not going to say that because I don't want to snitch, I'm just saying there's a lot of people from a lot of different places that most people can't access because of this Gulf of Mexico right here. That's what I would say and that makes for a diverse voting pool. And a lot of these people are younger and they've been moving from other countries and other places and they have their citizenship and they can vote, but we make it impossible for them to vote here. We make sure that it just there's no access in certain places, and so that's why it stays red you know what.
Speaker 2:You know what's crazy. It doesn't make sense to me, and this isn't about like republican Democrat, independent, but as a group of people, hispanics tend to vote Republican.
Speaker 5:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And Republicans tend to want to talk about border control, mm-hmm. And so why would you vote for someone or a? Group of people who don't like you or want you to be here. I never understood that thought process in general.
Speaker 5:I'm going to speak systemically because I don't want to speak for the entire Latinx community, but historically, when you come to America, you have to choose your race. But historically, when you come to America, you have to choose your race and specifically, when you're Latinx or Hispanic, you have to choose white or black and the moment you make that choice, you're supporting whatever that choice is. Now, most those who choose black Hispanic are forced to choose black Hispanic.
Speaker 4:Like you can tell they can't hide. You know, I'll beg to differ because the line of work that I do some people dark as night and they choose white.
Speaker 5:But they can't choose it on their immigration paperwork. Sure, like they. They.
Speaker 4:I guess it's just dependent on where where they're able to put in their information, like if they're able to do it themselves, versus somebody else is doing it for them but they, if they have the option, they put right see texas, don't play them games.
Speaker 5:Texas, don't play them games. We saw you. You don't look white. We'll choose for you, whether you like it or not. Those that get away with it. Don't stay here long, because it's hard to get away with it here. You really have to make a choice. Those that choose white a lot of times just are like this is what I need to do to survive here. I can't be down for the clown, I can't be for the cause and think I'm going to get to stay in this country, and a lot of people believe that. Also. A lot of people believe well, I got here. I don't want nobody else to get here and mess it up for me. So I'll vote against other people getting here thinking that they will treat me right because you know I got the right complexion. But it's shifting. The demographics are shifting. Latinx women are voting with Black women at a 15% higher rate than they ever had before.
Speaker 4:That, I think, has taken everybody aback and everybody doesn't even know, like, what to think about it. But you know, I think they did a good job with the flip, but there's a lot of people that don't trust Harris. They feel like she doesn't do her job. They feel like she hasn't done anything, that she is a woman that she can't run the country. So I'm just curious about what are you seeing in terms of the climate and maybe shed a little light on that for the people out there that are still indecisive.
Speaker 5:Well, I'm really hopeful.
Speaker 5:I've been team Harris since 2020. I voted for her in the primary over Biden at the time because I felt like she had a stronger policy. Now that we're here, my hopefulness came from what happened that week after she was nominated. So there's been a call with Black women. That's been going on since 2016. Black women that went called. I didn't get on the call until after Harris was nominated and that was the call that originally crashed the Zoom and it was like 44,000 of us on that call the next day. But I expected that from Black women. I knew we was going to show out because that's how we are. But the next day, when the Black men had their call, I went okay, that is interesting. Y'all raised $1.3 million. Wow, that is unexpected. That has never happened before.
Speaker 5:Then, when white women got on the call I said okay, wait, if y'all don't raise three, four million, y'all ain't really about this. It's going to be Hillary all over again. We just going to be hoping, to hope, Right. When they came back with 11 million raised in four hours, I was like that's impressive. I said OK. When I saw Republicans for Harris, I said okay. When I saw Republicans for Harris, I said all right, all right all right, because what is the option right now?
Speaker 5:That's the part Her being able to raise hundreds of billions of dollars in what Two weeks.
Speaker 4:I think in four weeks they raised half a billion dollars.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and again you shut down sites. Actblue was like this is the highest raise. He got shot in and didn't out-raise her on announcement day. That is a demographic shift like you can't even imagine. That type of number. You see that type of number as a political strategist and you're like I won. I won because I have enough money to run the ads that I need to run, because what she needed to do was create at least double what Biden had in the coffers. And then she tripled that. And she tripled that before we even got to the DNC. And then they hit crazy numbers at the DNC all week they lined them up to hit them numbers too, like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. They capitalized on that to the extreme, so she outraised them. I think eight to one from the Republican convention versus the DNC.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's probably why they had the whole concert as opposed to the boring.
Speaker 3:So that's what I was going to say as somebody who had plans and intentions to attend the DNC and unfortunately you weren't able to go because you got COVID and you chose to be a responsible adult and not attend. Thank you again.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 3:I'm assuming you know that you watched it and you saw. You know like it's a difference. You know, obviously it's a different experience like watching it on TV versus actually like being there. But one did it meet your expectations as far as what you felt like needed to be done in order for it to be viewed as a success? And then two, is there anything that didn't happen that you wish had?
Speaker 5:Yeah, so one. It exceeded my expectations. I didn't expect much. I've been to a lot of these conventions. They are dry, they are corny, they are boring Every last one of them.
Speaker 2:This one maybe was Democrat or Republican? Yes.
Speaker 5:Dry corny dusty. You spend most of the convention networking with other politicians trying to see who's got fundraising numbers that you want to match. You try to get into certain rooms with different funders. You're not really there for the convention, you're there to raise money. You're there to raise money. This convention, everybody came to party. Everybody came to party. They understood the assignment. I was shocked because even when we got all the delegates within the first 48 hours, we were already preparing on the call to organize around making sure she get all these delegates before the DNC. She had all the delegates before 48 hours. So these delegates showed up and we thought there still might be some drama. There still might, because the bernie hillary convention whoo, I thought fights. Some fights did break out, but not on like the convention floor, like it was crazy arguments, not like you know.
Speaker 2:These are not fight fire or they fight fights no, there was fight, fights you see her face she was like no, there was fight, fights like it was.
Speaker 5:This was. We thought the party was going to be broken for real after that feb. We thought we just wasn't going to heal enough to like move forward in a way and win a major election again. So when this dnc showed up and everybody came, smiling, happy, no little, I was expecting a little shade from you know, but none of that went down. I was like ecstatic. Then they stacked these heavy hitters back to back to back.
Speaker 5:What was important was one Walsh gave a great speech. I'm going to talk about the white men right now, because the black and brown people showed up and showed out. Everybody else was a little dry, did okay, but everybody black showed out could have been. President Jasmine got up there like did her new alliteration yeah, she did Was knocking him in the teeth. You know what I mean. Like Wes Moore, sir, sir, now saying you want the job, because you said you want the job with your whole chest.
Speaker 5:But what was important to the split, which is really progressives against moderates and Kamala is seen as a moderate even though her record is progressive because she supports moderate values Tim Walls, her running mate, is a progressive straight down the middle progressive. They can't say nothing about his record, the way they are assailing her record. They can't say anything about Bernie Sanders coming out and endorsing and giving a great speech on that DNC floor. Those were the things that I needed to see to be like oh okay, now we still got this Palestinian contingent, but they're using a lot of anti-blackness to attack her about Palestine. So you're losing that narrative conversation because you start with the anti-blackness, you're not starting with the A. We need to stop bombing these kids.
Speaker 5:You know, you could, you could just go there with it and I can hear your criticism, but if it's all she ugly, she you know if you showing up fully anti-black. And then this lady ain't got no control over the bombs. Joe got control over the bombs. It's that part like this, that's the contingent that could hamper her election if she stays within a one to two point margin. But as she's climbing to three, four, five percent and the money she's raised, I'm like if this was a white man when I say we'd already be celebrating a win, we wouldn't wait for november, we would already be like we won this see.
Speaker 2:So so it's. It's funny you say that because I'm glad you literally just thought of my segue, right, because in my mind, and maybe it's because, as a New Yorker, as a person who lived in Jersey, as someone who lives in this tri-state area, we have a tendency to live in a bubble, right.
Speaker 2:So we think the whole entire country thinks the way we do and they do not country thinks the way we do and they do not, and I literally fall through these YouTube holes of and those are the only kind of holes as of recent. You have to make it in there some way, but it's. You know. I've been watching a lot of these conversations from Black people who support Trump.
Speaker 6:And.
Speaker 2:I do want to say this. I kind of want us to I would love for the country to kind of get back to the way where who you supported was who you supported internally, like it wasn't like public knowledge, like a portion of it, unless it, like, revealed your inner racism yeah that's what makes this good yeah um, but so many people just blindly support this man, and this is not to make people pick and choose to not vote for trump. Don't vote for trump, but this is more so. Don't, please.
Speaker 2:Don't, um, but this is more so like why in other countries I mean other countries, other states are not really understanding the differences that we experience. Or maybe houston, um, which is his own state, in texas, as you said earlier, you know, I saw some and it was like girls, was like I'm drunk, drunk for Trump Hands down Like he cares about black people, yeah, yeah, what, what can?
Speaker 5:can you tell us why she's like?
Speaker 2:I am not one of those black girls. No, no, no, what.
Speaker 5:This is the thing. This is the thing. Black women vote with each other in the 90th percentile Every time, every vote, under every circumstance, in the 90th percentile. These feffas can hate each other and they're gonna vote together. The ones that are not vote, the ones that you see on tv talking at, they're not voting. You're not voting. You're saying you're gonna vote for trump.
Speaker 3:You're not going to polls, but they're not going to vote. You're not going to the polls, but they're not going to vote.
Speaker 5:You're not going to the polls because the numbers tell the lie on you. Trump didn't get a bump in the polls from black women, black men, nowhere, in no part of the country. But what will happen is social media and mainstream media will highlight these people to try to use that as propaganda to get more black and brown people, because we learned that black and brown people do not live If you're not black. I didn't hear you. I didn't hear your speech.
Speaker 2:Say that again, say that again.
Speaker 5:I didn't hear you. So they need black people to talk to black people. But they find these coons and we don't mess with coons. We know what a coon look like. We know who master service look like. That's who you are and you, the 8%, and y'all been here since the beginning of us being here. They've picked and chose a couple of us to highlight, to be like look at these good niggas. Y'all want to be good niggas like them.
Speaker 4:Okay, so all right. So, but you pointed out, well, we started with Black women first. What about?
Speaker 1:Black men.
Speaker 4:What are your thoughts behind Black men and why they are voting for Trump? Behind?
Speaker 5:Black men and why they're voting for Trump. That's another thing that's interesting, because I don't see this in the way that everybody else is seeing this, because I'm a numbers girl. I got to be a strategist about everything. So when I pull the numbers and I see Black men are voting with Black women at the highest rate higher than anybody, higher than anybody, higher than anybody they're in the 88th percentile of voting with black women. So that means it's 12% of black men that are doing this. It's 12%, and they're who gets highlighted the black men that are supporting sisters. They're not talking to them, you're not calling, you're not knocking on the door, you're not putting a camera in their face and you know it's not even about their wives.
Speaker 5:Big Mama is the reason why you're going to vote the way Big Mama said vote PJ.
Speaker 4:why are you voting for Trump?
Speaker 6:Who said that?
Speaker 5:That's like the chitlin Nigga. I'll do it.
Speaker 2:We are not doing that today on Beyonce's internet. We are not doing that.
Speaker 5:That took me out.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I had to break it up.
Speaker 4:But I get where you're coming from. I just think it's so interesting sometimes because while you have that, 12% of Black men and 8% of Black women that decide that they want to vote whatever way, I do hear it sometimes as I like in passing different people I'm going to do this or I'm going to do that, and for me I've never been. I actually had a frat brother recently correct me because I always say I say stuff like I'm not a political kind of guy, and they corrected me. They said no, you're political because of guy. And they corrected me. They said no, you're political because you sit down and you have conversations. You just don't like stupidity, which is probably the better statement. So I hear these conversations. Sometimes I'm like I'm not engaging with that because it takes too much energy.
Speaker 1:It does.
Speaker 4:So I guess my next question is for both black men and for black women what do we, what are we saying to the people who are saying that they're staying undecided Because I cannot wait.
Speaker 2:Let me let me, before we even talk about undecided, the people who are saying they're not going to vote, they're going to sit out. And my first comment to that is and this is also the undecided, the people who are saying they're not going to vote and they're going to sit out. And my first comment to that is and this is also the undecided people, maybe at the same time, if you choose not to vote, what it is is that. What it means is that you're surrendering. You're surrendering your vote, you're not like I'm going to sit this out because, no, you're surrendering, you know?
Speaker 2:no, you're surrendering.
Speaker 5:okay, we fought you know like blair yelled at me that time.
Speaker 2:Okay, our ancestors literally appreciate you died for this. So you are surrendering your rights just because you don't you know, understand and then if you go ahead into the polls and start writing in. Stop being. Stop writing times's dick in.
Speaker 4:I heard people doing that too.
Speaker 2:I just wanted to throw that in there before I forgot, because you know this train was about to leave the station.
Speaker 4:No, no, no, but I'm glad that you said that. But like, yeah, there's a lot of people that I had some a worker at my job who said that she wasn't voting for Harris because she didn't know her policy, she didn't feel like she did anything. And then she said, and I quote I don't think that America is ready for a woman of color. And I'm looking at her and I thought it was, I think I feel bad because I looked at her and I said to her but I would vote for you. Oh, you heard her.
Speaker 5:I feel it, but I would vote for you. Oh, you heard her Talk about punches in my knee through.
Speaker 4:Listen, can't people, but it's the truth.
Speaker 2:I want people to understand this and everybody keeps saying this. And Chiquita?
Speaker 2:you can agree and disagree with me if you'd like to, no matter what year we've been doing elections, no policy policy, nothing is given know what they're going to do until the convention happens. So, like you don't know policy, because of course the convention hasn't happened yet, they haven't had the team of republicans or the team of democrats agree with whatever was supposed to happen. And this is now. This is our national policy. So, now that it has happened, yes, if you don't agree with it, okay, fine, but it doesn't, yeah, go ahead in this instance I cannot agree with you, because in this instance, this woman ran for president already.
Speaker 5:I mean, yeah, so yeah, so she had policies that were public. They're there. You could google it if you really cared that much. My answer to your question read is I wouldn't argue with nobody that talked like that, because you know you ain't gonna find me nobody now if you can convince them to go vote.
Speaker 4:That's a different thing I just, I just think it's. I just thought it was just weird, because you can argue or you can make the statement that you're not familiar with her policies, you can make the statement that you didn't feel like she did enough while she was doing whatever else you can make those arguments, but to say that somebody is not, we're not ready I don't think that the United States is ready for a woman of color or a person of color is bananas. And the example I gave her. I said well, when Barack was running, there was plenty of people that felt like he wasn't going to run. And she said to me.
Speaker 4:She said to me well, no, I knew that he was going to win. I said you did. I said but several people didn't. I remember when Barack won, I was standing next to my dad and he said to me wow, he did it. That in itself, not that he didn't think that he could do it or that he thinks that he didn't have the capability of doing it, but he knows, we know how the United States is, how hard it is, and so we can't wait, as a people, for America to be ready, and so we can't wait, as a people, for America to be ready.
Speaker 5:I'm not going to wait. The internalized anti-Blackness is real. It's disgusting, it's real. And the misogynoir towards Black women is even more extreme. They can accept a Barack Obama quicker than they can set Kamala Harris, and the reason for that is both of those things.
Speaker 4:It's just a lot of internalized anti-blackness massage and bar, and I'll say this because I see that you're about to interject Blair. But I'll just say this If it's about policy, if it's about other things, then let it be that, but don't tell me that somebody can't run because they're black or somebody can't run because they're a woman?
Speaker 4:Because here you are. How can you say that? And you were raised by a black woman or a woman of color? I can't possibly fathom saying if my mother got up one random day and said I'm going to run for president, then I'm going to say that she can't do it because she's a woman. Are you crazy? This woman raised you and for a lot of people, raised you by herself. She knows how to run a household and probably a country.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but society's been dragging black women this whole time, so it's a lot of people that are like I'm not going to let them. I love that.
Speaker 3:Red. Thank you Red.
Speaker 5:I love that.
Speaker 3:Red Ducato, let me ask you and this kind of piggybacks off of one of the things that Red was saying before about like how, like a lot of these conversations don't happen because the people who do have the how should I say the more in-depth knowledge, like the people who actually like done the research and kind of like understand the policies and like kind of have like a a working, you know, framework of what's going on, don't want to take the time to argue with people who are ignorant to the situation, because it's it's frustrating, it's like arguing with a brick wall.
Speaker 3:So like like, um, when you ask, you know black people or black men specifically like why they're voting for trump, and they give these like completely just wrong answers, like the point that I'm getting to is, I really feel like social media is so key in being able to reach people who are otherwise unreachable because it addresses so many things. Um, you know, people who typically like gravitate towards social media are those who have like small attention spans, and that's why, and that's because social media has designed for us, that it is decreasing our attention span by the day, you know.
Speaker 3:But it's a way to get quick, direct, digestible information to people, to at least get them to start thinking from a different perspective. And specifically, like I love watching, I think it was. I think it was. I think it was don lemon he did a. He has a tiktok account and he was walking around and he was interviewing black people and asking black men like why they're voting for trump. And a lot of them were saying like, oh, I'm voting for trump because he's with us. You know, he's down for the brown.
Speaker 3:Like he gave us the stimulus checks you know, he's just trying to help us out and then don lemon, like literally, like, says, like well, it wasn't donald trump who gave us the stimulus checks, it was the democratic congress yes correct. Just made sure that he got his name signed on it yeah, that it came from him and you can see the lights go off and these people says they were like oh, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay, well, I ain't voting for trump, then you know and again like you know, some of this is obviously like staged with social media but it's also just like a way to be able to like zero in on. People think they know what they know and people believe what they are told without actually doing like the research. And so for you, somebody who's been in the political realm for a while now, what would you say is like the influence that social media has on being able to like, basically create. Like the outcomes that we have, basically create the outcomes that we have.
Speaker 5:I think you are 100% correct and I'm going to use a very local example. I've been doing this work for decades now. My first campaign I was 16 years old, knocking on doors in the rain for the mayor in Starnes. My family never listened to me about any of this stuff. I called it, I said Barack Obama's going to be president and they all thought I was crazy.
Speaker 5:They all thought I was crazy. Bumped your head. I dragged my mother to the polls. She's like I'm going to go girl because you said there's a Black man running and I'm going to vote for because you said this black man running and I'm a vote for the first time for real Right. But my brothers, my dad, like people in my life, it was really a struggle. Now they'll watch my videos.
Speaker 4:Of course they will.
Speaker 5:I call you to talk about you, but I'll quit. I seen your video. Trump did what? That man crazy. I ain't voting for him. What?
Speaker 2:This time, don't think this time you know what?
Speaker 5:I'm begging you, I'm calling, I'm talking to y'all till I'm blue in the face. But you'll watch one of my 60 second videos and be like see my sister said this, like see my sister said this. Social media has the opportunity to literally showcase the average person. So when the average person can get on somebody else's level and talk to them the way they talk, now you're influencing, because people don't want to hear this high level, educated conversation that we be having here. People need a breakdown. That's like look, abc wants to do this, she wants to do that, she wants to do this. She can only do those things if we get her a congress. We get her a Congress, those things can pass. Yay, us Like.
Speaker 5:It's got to be that simple and social media gives time for that. It gives people a platform for that, for your everyday Meemaw and Pawpaw to get up there and say, hey, this is what's going on. Your auntie got a thing. She's saying this was going on. You sharing it with your friends like it's not tripping or what I think that receives. That's the kind of like what used to happen when we would get together and create a bus boycott. Was we going fish fry to fish fry finding out what's going on.
Speaker 5:They don't know how we're communicating because they don't understand how we show up. So that's why there's Black Twitter, there's Black TikTok, there's spaces within these social media spaces where we're talking to each other and that's why our numbers are so high. That's why they have so many bots, that's why they're trying to pull out every Black man, black woman and throw them on social media. They're saying they're willing to vote for Trump. They have to do that because it's hard to talk to us when you don't know the vernacular, you don't know the dialect. I'm in Houston, it's different from Jersey.
Speaker 2:They be saying something like that and I think that's the main reason why, even before they were trying to ban TikTok, mostly these, all these social media platforms are, are really spaces, like you said, that are not available, um, for the everyday person.
Speaker 2:Um, and I I've said this before and I'm not proud to say this again um, but it's it's, it's disappointing and it just pisses me off, but my mother is a Trump supporter and I can't get through to her. There's nothing that I can say that will change her mind, and the main reason why is because Biden and Obama approved gay marriage, and these are the things she said to me, to her gay son, um, like and I'm sorry, to the other one as well, and so like, there there are people in this country. I was working with a funeral director not too long ago and we were just talking about politics and I said, hey, I and you know it's like in school, you don't talk about, like, religion or politics and I come to find out he's a Trump supporter. So I asked him why? Why? Why he's like it doesn't matter why.
Speaker 3:It kind of, does it literally?
Speaker 2:does. You know, it doesn't matter why, it's just that he's going to get my vote, because you know I don't trust her.
Speaker 6:And you know I don't trust her um and you know he cares about him.
Speaker 5:I'm sorry because bigotry is the answer when we get here, when you're choosing your bigotry over your own well-being. That's just what it is. That's why it's hard to get through to somebody because they want the bigotry they're voting voting for bigotry. They're not voting for us, but why? Because they don't believe that you should exist.
Speaker 4:That's just the reality, I just wanted to just put it out there, because I think a lot of people don't sometimes understand or see it or can possibly believe that there is a person out there that doesn't want you to exist. Whatever you are black woman, black man, gay man, white woman, whatever they just don't want you there.
Speaker 5:They don't want you to exist. They don't want you to exist. And they definitely don't want you to exist happily. So imagine hearing that from your own parent.
Speaker 2:And trying to understand that your vote equals my death, yeah, and by you saying you don't care. Just imagine the millions of other people who are experiencing somewhat similar things, whether it's their parents or anybody that are relevant, or their community, anybody that are relevant, or their community. They could be the only person in their community that is trying to, like, do everything for Kamala or whatever. Have you something that's just not of the norm and it's it gets really frustrating. It's really hard. I'm going to keep pushing and I want everybody who's listening to keep pushing the. And again, I want people to know that the whole purpose of this conversation is not to tell people don't vote for Trump, please don't vote for Trump.
Speaker 2:But the conversation is for you to have a mind of your own and to be able to do your own research. Now we can say whatever we want until the sky turns blue, but you guys, google is, you know Google, googleisha, you know Yahoo. Yahoo, honda is still available. What was the other page, zanga? Wait, what was it? Bing? Yeah, all these different things are still readily available to do your own research and do your own. Come up with your own answer and let it be true and factual.
Speaker 5:That's it, or stand tall and get bigotry.
Speaker 2:And stand tall and get ready to get punched in the throat.
Speaker 5:Period that's why I don't care. That's why I don't care. The moment I find out it's bigotry, I'm like, oh, I get to punch him. Look at God just giving gifts out to God. Anything else you can be reasonable with people, but people cannot be reasoned with when bigotry is their answer and we got to let them have that. You can have that on that island by yourself, because the rest of us are going to be over here changing the world. And when it looks fun, don't be trying to knock on the door.
Speaker 2:You can't get in because you're not like us wow, is there anything that you would like to uh leave our audience with besides that wonderful um?
Speaker 5:leave our audience with. Besides that wonderful um, what, what, what, what? I like, I want to tell people no matter what you do, local elections are the most important thing to your life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you don't realize that you don't know who your alderman is.
Speaker 5:you don't know who your compterman is. You don't know who your comptroller is, your city council person, like these are the people literally making decisions around your water, your air, how you survive in your city. Like everything. So whether you want to vote for everybody at top is a non-starter for me, but vote in them. Local elections, know who them people are. If you got an issue with Harris Trump, whoever, whatever who's teaching at them schools, what they're teaching at them schools, you need to be voting for what you think is the representation.
Speaker 3:Otherwise your kid gonna get sent home with homework packets talking about slaves. Just love being slaves, yeah.
Speaker 5:That's what I want to leave everybody. You got to show up to these councils.
Speaker 2:And sometimes they have food y'all, oh man, but sometimes they might.
Speaker 5:Sometimes they do so go. Some events even have wine. I be getting tipsy, these political events.
Speaker 2:And shout out to all the city council people that we've had on the episode who have? We stand by one thing and one thing only as far as the community, as far as this podcast vote in, please vote in your local elections as well, like that's even more important than the big one. Where can everybody find you, jaquita? I've been wanting to say your name like that for the longest time.
Speaker 5:It's easy to find me because my name is Jaquita. So all the social medias, I just have my name Jaquita Wilson, because it's not a lot of me. I'm on TikTok, I'm on Twitter, I'm on Instagram and I'm on Facebook. I'm also one of eight colleagues of the Health Equity Collective. We're trying to bring love to the people who take care of us. So I would love everybody to check out the Health Equity Collective because it's health justice and you can find me there and that's about it. We did it. We did it, joe, I didn't mean for it to be like that, but you know what I mean. Like we've been meaning to do this for a while. It's like, oh, we did it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, chris, I want you to know that I used to call her the heart. That never was, because yo, chris, is an iota too. Oh.
Speaker 3:Oh, I was like I don't know how I feel about that. No.
Speaker 5:It wasn't a bad thing.
Speaker 3:Okay, I mean I heard it Now with context, but on its own nah.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for Gracing our stage Coming on our show. The whole purpose of Highly Melanated. If anybody else wants to be a guest, you know what's the best way to do it Reach out to one of us or us. Maybe not on our social media, but as always, guys, you can follow us there, whether we choose, we know. Here's the thing.
Speaker 2:Life is life for all three of us okay, and you know managing social media on my own. So, guys, I mean, if somebody wants you know to be our social media manager, please reach out. I understand that you may. We did not meet the quota that. Blair said that if we get there by the certain time that she would take.
Speaker 3:I don't even remember the statistics that I had put out there at this point. I just know that we didn't meet them you said it did I ah, we've been.
Speaker 2:Sort of crazy thing is we have a lot of listeners, just no social media presence, which is about how elections are. Sometimes Word of mouth gets you, so I'm grateful to all the listeners, but guys, make sure you follow her on her social media as well as ours. If you feel the need. That would be Highly Melanated Podcast at TikTok and Instagram. Yeah, feel the need.
Speaker 3:Uh, that would be highly melanated podcast at um tiktok and instagram yeah, and then what you can do if that don't work is you could just go ahead and email us, because we do check our email at highlymelanatedpodcast at gmailcom or you can come on over to twitter, now known as as.
Speaker 2:X. No, it's no longer known as Twitter Period, it's Xcom.
Speaker 4:Oh, I'm sorry. Now known as Xcom. Let's get that straight. At H underscore MelanatedPod.
Speaker 2:And sidebar before we go. I am so fucking sick and tired of seeing these weird-ass trucks Talking about Elon Musk.
Speaker 4:I was about to say we were all lost.
Speaker 3:Yeah those fiber trucks are terrible.
Speaker 2:Because, imagine this I love a sidebar at the end of another sidebar. For some strange reason, my YouTube algorithm has been forwarding me a bunch of worlds, a bunch of nuclear war videos, what to do if there's a nuclear war, blah, blah, blah. Understand, guys, that all these electric cars that you have, if we ever get into one, it's just gonna stop running and stop moving. So stop buying them, okay, guys thank you I know her face you mean our face?
Speaker 1:am.
Speaker 4:I the only one who's getting that yeah you know I get other weird videos, but not that.
Speaker 2:I watch a bunch of like how things are made, like stars, stuff, as you see my background that sounds like how things were destroyed yeah and now it's how things are destroyed. But anyway, on that note, guys, thank you for taking the time to listen to another episode of highly motherfucking melanated Said that all completely out of order. I realize that now. On that note, guys, peace, love and Vote niggas.
Speaker 5:yeah, vote, vote or you getting punched in the throat with words in the throat, the jugular yeah, you don't need that Adam's apple, you don't need none of it you don't need none of it.
Speaker 6:I'm so happy. Shout out to Kamala Harris it's your girl, rita B. I ain't no rapper, but I got bars, let's go. Kamala, kamala, ooh, I'm so lit. I don't know what I'ma do Now that she running with Biden, but I got bars, let's go. Kamala, kamala, ooh, I'm so lit, I don't know what I'ma do.
Speaker 1:Now that she running with Biden.
Speaker 6:I'm vibing you mad and you act like a black woman made you. She repping AKs, I'm repping DST, but we are all the same. Call it Greek unity. She is my sister and I am her pusher. No-transcript. Let's talk about what she is prosecutor, straight shooter, you a talker, she a doer. Know you're doing something right. When they mad on the right, take a seat. Paris haters. I'ma be here all night. I'm a. J Can't sit by me if you a racist. You ain't. Rosa Pontificating, commentating while she elevating. I know you don't, but act like you got some home training. Kamala, kamala, ooh, I'm so lit I don't know what I'ma do. And now that she running for president, we ready like Freddie Joe chose us, so we coming through. She repping AKA, I'm repping DST, but we are all the same. Call it Greek unity. She is my sister, I am her pusher. First lady, president, chief is the president. Now I'ma waste one lyric Talking about the opposition.
Speaker 6:That's the bed. You on the lion, don't sleep on his lion. A DEI hire, the devil is a lie. Try to denigrate her, but she still overqualified. Now let me tell you why they really mad. She said no to Prop 8 and make the gays glad. Only thing she locked up was the nomination, but your iq lower than your vibrations.
Speaker 6:Now tell me, tell me, tell me why you want to hate on k harris. You the one mediocre, but you acting like she average. Your accomplishments amount to petty instagram. She, a whole freedom fighter, got the ancestors clapping. And now I ain't saying that she perfect, but I'm a thousand percent that she worth it. Formidable, unforgettable living history. Eloquently, kamala will make America great. Kamala, kamala. I'm so lit I don't know what I'ma do. And now that she running for president, we ready, like Freddie Joe chose us. So we coming through. She repping AKA, I'm repping DST, but we are all the same. Call it Greek unity. She is my sister, I am her pusher. First lady president, chief is the president. Yes, we can, yes, we can, yes, we can, and we will get on your left right, left right, making strides to revitalize. So get it. Black women for Kamala. Say black men for Kamala. Say white folks for Kamala. Say everybody for Kamala. Say Outro Music.