Speaker 1: I'm Jesse Junior. Welcome forward to the Jesse Jackson Juniors
Speaker 1: Show on KBLA Talk fifteen eighty. This is our second
Speaker 1: hour on the show, and I'm particularly honored that our
Speaker 1: resident regular contributor on issues all issues relating to education
Speaker 1: and social justice is none other than Diallo Brooks. Gina
Speaker 1: Diallo is here with us today.
Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, yes, he is, Idallo.
Speaker 3: Doing, Gina.
Speaker 1: How you doing, Jesse, Hey, Joab d'ello. I'm still here, man.
Speaker 1: It's been a hell of a week. And before we
Speaker 1: get to some of the specifics issues that you'd like
Speaker 1: to discuss in the next hour, we did cover a
Speaker 1: couple of issues. You've got to be as a social
Speaker 1: justice activist and warrior, you've got to be completely shocked
Speaker 1: and taken aback by what transpired in Minnesota. Please share
Speaker 1: with us your thoughts.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely a shock. Unfortunately, I'm not totally surprised,
Speaker 3: giving the trajectory we've been on with this administration and
Speaker 3: what we've seen from Ice and what we've seen from
Speaker 3: the weaponization of our federal law enforcement officials, and so
Speaker 3: I think it was inevitable that incidents like this would
Speaker 3: happen but it's it's such it's such a sad moment
Speaker 3: in our history, and it really requires us to to
Speaker 3: lean in in this moment and really really pay attention.
Speaker 3: Folks can't sit on the sidelines, uh any longer when
Speaker 3: we see this type of atrocity happen, And you know,
Speaker 3: I fear that there won't be repercussions for the officer
Speaker 3: that was involved and for how Ice is actually patrolling
Speaker 3: our cities, at least in the in the short term.
Speaker 1: Gina, I am as shocked and horrified as Diallo about
Speaker 1: what took place in Minnesota. Obviously, we've experienced brutality from
Speaker 1: police officers that have resulted in the deaths of black men,
Speaker 1: black women, young people who were unarmed. But as I
Speaker 1: shared on the show yesterday, when Bobby Kennedy picked up
Speaker 1: a poor black child in Appalachia, I think it was
Speaker 1: it may have even been in the South, the country
Speaker 1: kind of said, well, in terms of the media, poor
Speaker 1: black baby. But when he picked up a poor black child,
Speaker 1: a poor white child in Appalachia, the country then responded
Speaker 1: with some very images. They could not believe that white poverty.
Speaker 1: By the way, the name of a book written by
Speaker 1: William Barber the second White poverty was such a real
Speaker 1: factor in American history, and I'm wondering, when I think
Speaker 1: about the doll tests of our reaction to black and
Speaker 1: white whether or not Robin Good's death is going to
Speaker 1: be a term point in the federal government's engagement in
Speaker 1: localities and in the States. Geene, I'm sure you've given
Speaker 1: that something.
Speaker 2: You know, not that I'm an advocate or cheerleader, so
Speaker 2: I don't want to found that way, but I want
Speaker 2: to point out that many times throughout history, you know,
Speaker 2: to Deborah when she was overseeing Israel's battles, and you
Speaker 2: know it was her they said that the victory Berrick,
Speaker 2: if you don't want to come with me, is going
Speaker 2: to be given into a woman's hands. You saw Maimie
Speaker 2: Till have to deal with her son and leave his
Speaker 2: casket open in order to make a statement. You know,
Speaker 2: you see Viola Luiso being shot. You see the park
Speaker 2: in the face, and you see Rosa Parks sitting on
Speaker 2: a bus, and you see Jimmy Lee Jackson cover his
Speaker 2: mother who is out doing you know what she is doing.
Speaker 2: And this is one point I always never get a
Speaker 2: chance to mention the thing about that whole situation. When
Speaker 2: Martin Luther King and Andrew Young went when this incident occurred,
Speaker 2: it was because their wives were from there. You had
Speaker 2: Corretta and Jean eventually Young that were both from the city.
Speaker 2: And you have to imagine that these women are making
Speaker 2: phone calls like y'all gotta come down here, here's what happened,
Speaker 2: or somebody from there called them and said, hey, you
Speaker 2: guys got to come home because this is happening. I
Speaker 2: say all that because Robin Good, you see, Robin Hood,
Speaker 2: who robbed from the rich to give to the Porsche,
Speaker 2: got that name, and then she's got the name Good.
Speaker 2: So many times these movements start with something that happens
Speaker 2: with a woman.
Speaker 3: Yellow. Yeah, I would agree. I mean, if you look
Speaker 3: at the trajectory of our history, women and in particular
Speaker 3: black women have been the backbone and also have propelled
Speaker 3: us forward. I mean, even if you look more modernly
Speaker 3: and you know you hate to couch it in tragedy,
Speaker 3: you look at Sandra Blan or even young people just
Speaker 3: you know, the tamir Rices of the world and the
Speaker 3: Trayvon Martins of the world. It's women, young people the
Speaker 3: tragedies that have happened to them, or they're organizing ability
Speaker 3: that has propelled us forward to really push for change,
Speaker 3: and so I think it's incumbent upon the rest of
Speaker 3: us to also stand shoulder to shoulder with women, and
Speaker 3: you know, in certain circumstances, follow the leadership in circumstances
Speaker 3: standing the void to support really creating the change we
Speaker 3: want to see in this country and in the world.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking in this in this moment that I'm just
Speaker 1: scared to death at Diallo's suggestion that all of the
Speaker 1: series of events and the rhetoric indicates that this just
Speaker 1: may be the beginning of these kinds of activities. And
Speaker 1: I'm scared because we don't know what constitutes First Amendment
Speaker 1: protections under these circumstances. The First Amendment is in the
Speaker 1: Constitution of the United States, so it's a federal function.
Speaker 1: Usually it's the federal government that's instructing local law enforcement
Speaker 1: that they have to comply with the federal constitution. But
Speaker 1: it is federal law enforcement that is not allowing people
Speaker 1: to protest and speak freely, and they are specifically governed
Speaker 1: by the Constitution of the United States. I'm Jesse Jackson Jr.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show on KBLA
Speaker 1: Talk fifteen to eighty. It is Fat Meat Fridays, the
Speaker 1: creator of our show, Gina Towns Reflectivity and with our
Speaker 1: leading contributor on all issues education and many many more
Speaker 1: social justice activists, great man and a friend, mister d'ello Brooks. More.
Speaker 1: When we come forward on KBLA Talk fifteen, I'm Jesse Jackson,
Speaker 1: the Jesse Jackson. Before you begin our conversation, I want
Speaker 1: to thank King Farley for dropping that beat right there,
Speaker 1: that beat right there, that beat right there from from
Speaker 1: the jack Master. Wow. Anyway, our very special guest in
Speaker 1: this hour is Dallo Brooks. Diallo Brooks is an educator.
Speaker 1: He's also a social justice activist and a regular contributor
Speaker 1: on the Jesse Jackson Junior Show. Dello, welcome forward to
Speaker 1: the show.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Jesse.
Speaker 1: Gina. You wanted to continue our conversation with d'allo before.
Speaker 2: The I did, but I started talking about KB you know,
Speaker 2: and that that does remind me because you know, we
Speaker 2: do have fun and I think that we and it's
Speaker 2: not just us, but in particular our community got to
Speaker 2: a level a certain level of comfortability and in that comfort,
Speaker 2: especially in the generation that was raised while President Obama
Speaker 2: was you know, in office, you could clearly see and
Speaker 2: not know what it was like to never have a
Speaker 2: president of color and a first Lady and children that
Speaker 2: looked like yourself living in the White House, giving speeches,
Speaker 2: playing basketball, you know, I mean, like him or not.
Speaker 2: President Obama was the epitome of Joe Cool, and so
Speaker 2: to grow up in that era, I think really kind
Speaker 2: of puts us in a position to why we may
Speaker 2: be startled. But we talked about in the last hour, Diallo,
Speaker 2: how long this has been going on. The plot, the
Speaker 2: planned Project twenty five, you know, even by its name,
Speaker 2: it happened in twenty twenty five, but it certainly started
Speaker 2: more than twenty five years ago.
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely started more than twenty five years ago. There's
Speaker 3: been a history, and I quite honestly with folks trying
Speaker 3: to take control of systems, I think ultimately to make money,
Speaker 3: to gain resources and control resources. And so I think
Speaker 3: we're seeing that in how the ice incidents are playing out,
Speaker 3: but also just our foreign policy and a lot of
Speaker 3: things that we are involved in in the world. I
Speaker 3: think what we have to do on our side is
Speaker 3: be much more strategic than we have been, and it's
Speaker 3: really about creating what is our vision for the future
Speaker 3: look like. What does a healthy, thriving, safe community look like, right,
Speaker 3: and what are the pillars of that. What are the
Speaker 3: things that we need to do that we need to
Speaker 3: create in order to make that happen. And I think
Speaker 3: we have to defend ourselves from the tyranny that we
Speaker 3: see that's happening right now, whether it be Venezuela, whether
Speaker 3: it be the ice incident in Minnesota, or whether it
Speaker 3: be other incidents that happening around the country. We also
Speaker 3: have to have a proactive agenda that people that can
Speaker 3: galvanize people, that bring people together, that give people some
Speaker 3: optimism for the future, because it's often creates even more
Speaker 3: apathy when we lean into the negative that we're not
Speaker 3: talking about the things that the way we see the future.
Speaker 3: And I think when we lean into that, we create
Speaker 3: spaces that allow us to then engage people, to give
Speaker 3: folks hope, to give ourselves hope and joy and something
Speaker 3: to really fight for and not just fight against. And
Speaker 3: I think when we posture ourselves in that way, when
Speaker 3: we really are strategic about what our agenda is and
Speaker 3: be clear about not using their agenda as part of
Speaker 3: our agenda. I think the people want to see something
Speaker 3: that is drastically different, not just co opting parts of it,
Speaker 3: not placating their base, but really drilling down on things
Speaker 3: that really matter to most folks in this country and educating, engaging,
Speaker 3: and then lastly, I'll say, we have to also listen
Speaker 3: to people, listen to where their pain points are, but
Speaker 3: also what brings them joy to help co create what
Speaker 3: that can look like for our future.
Speaker 2: Jesse he said, where their pain points are.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's no doubt in my mind that he's onto
Speaker 4: something right there. We tend to organize people historically. Segregation
Speaker 4: put us in certain categories or neighborhoods geographically.
Speaker 1: But then you know, we organize ourselves voluntarily by choosing
Speaker 1: to move beyond laws of segregation, and we voluntarily integrate
Speaker 1: into communities because the laws now allow us to move
Speaker 1: and live in all neighborhoods in the United States except
Speaker 1: for restrictive covenants. And then we Doctor King would argue
Speaker 1: that we needed a spiritual integration, which is a care neighbor,
Speaker 1: a care for community, regardless of a person's race, sex,
Speaker 1: or class, and he used the story of the Samaritan
Speaker 1: to make the case for what that really really represents
Speaker 1: and what that really what that really means. But I'm
Speaker 1: thinking in this moment, Diallo, that there's going to be
Speaker 1: a comfort that people feel naturally in a kind of
Speaker 1: tribalism because of the fear of the world that doctor
Speaker 1: King envision the world that we've been trying to build.
Speaker 1: Uh and it is reinforced by the absence of well
Speaker 1: funded schools where, for example, if I worked in Silicon
Speaker 1: Valley and my job Operate Tunity was in Silicon Valley,
Speaker 1: some of the largest corporations in the world pay local
Speaker 1: taxes and therefore students go to public schools that are
Speaker 1: extremely well funded. But then Diallo, as an American who
Speaker 1: does not live in Silicon Valley by happenstance of my
Speaker 1: birth or zip code I live in on the South
Speaker 1: side of Chicago, I live in Harlem, or I live
Speaker 1: in Compton, Los Angeles, or I live in Crenshaw neighborhoods,
Speaker 1: And there is no Apple, there is no Microsoft, there
Speaker 1: is no Amazon, there is no no one's paying local
Speaker 1: property taxes that make public education commensurate with what children
Speaker 1: are receiving where these corporate headquarters are. There is a
Speaker 1: kind of forced segregation that the economic system itself creates
Speaker 1: by where corporations and businesses choose to locate. And I
Speaker 1: don't know the answer completely to that, other than these
Speaker 1: companies have to spread the wealth by building in our
Speaker 1: communities data mining entities. They have to build factories as
Speaker 1: well as equipment and packaging handling facilities that can pay
Speaker 1: local property taxes to help offset the burden that people
Speaker 1: who are living in ghettos, in neighborhoods and communities that
Speaker 1: are failing. I don't have the answer. I'm sixty years old,
Speaker 1: I've got more Yesterday's than tomorrow. I probably won't live
Speaker 1: to be one hundred and twenty. So it puts me
Speaker 1: in a battle personally with entities that choose to locate
Speaker 1: in some areas but don't choose to locate in ours.
Speaker 1: And then you know, our children grow up in those
Speaker 1: environments and they are tough yellow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're tough environments. And I think there's a larger
Speaker 3: conversation that we have to have too. I mean, we
Speaker 3: understand that in America we live in this quote unquote
Speaker 3: capitalistic success. We I think as a society are going
Speaker 3: to have to make some decisions about what parts of
Speaker 3: that work for us and what parts of that don't
Speaker 3: work for us. Because even as you mentioned the tax base,
Speaker 3: where resources come from, how corporations pay their fair share
Speaker 3: to make sure that this country is healthy and whole,
Speaker 3: their interests and corporate interests are around making money. That's
Speaker 3: the only thing that corporations care about. And it is
Speaker 3: up to us as citizens, as people, as voters, as
Speaker 3: those that elect, folks that sit in public policy positions,
Speaker 3: to hold those corporations accountable to the collective welfare and
Speaker 3: well being of the citizens of this country, the people
Speaker 3: that live on the soil of this country. And so
Speaker 3: it requires us to kind of reimagine what our future
Speaker 3: could look like, and what that means is making some
Speaker 3: difficult decisions in certain circumstances. Even when you MENTIONEDDATA centers,
Speaker 3: that's great, but also there's harm that's come from those
Speaker 3: like look what's happened in Memphis. Look, you know, folks
Speaker 3: in Prince George's county near me out of DC, they're
Speaker 3: fighting against it because they're sucking up the water, they're
Speaker 3: sucking up the power grid, or they're polluting the water.
Speaker 3: So we want corporations to be responsible partners. So they
Speaker 3: come in and bring their businesses into places that are
Speaker 3: close to us. At the same time, they have a
Speaker 3: responsibility to support the health and wellbeing of those communities
Speaker 3: as well. It is a collective responsibility and not just
Speaker 3: about them making money. They can make money and support
Speaker 3: creating healthy, thriving environments for all of us.
Speaker 2: And so for all of you do gooders who think
Speaker 2: corporate responsibility is a thing you see the dismantling, you know,
Speaker 2: some of the first steps that they took was to
Speaker 2: get rid of diversity, equity, inclusion, and in many I
Speaker 2: have friends in Los Angeles, Atlanta, d C. You know,
Speaker 2: and I have been one of those people who were
Speaker 2: in roles that guided the consciousness of a corporation. And
Speaker 2: in fact, many of us, you know, are in government
Speaker 2: and community affairs to try to make sure that there's
Speaker 2: a balance between community and what the corporation is doing
Speaker 2: as it makes money. But that's uh you know, that
Speaker 2: has dwindled. Roles have dwindled, the care of the responsibility
Speaker 2: has dwindled, but all and all but disappeared. And so
Speaker 2: how do we manage and especially you have an administration
Speaker 2: who has called all these corporations to the table to say, hey,
Speaker 2: it's you know, free wily time. You don't have to
Speaker 2: do this anymore. You don't have to do that. So
Speaker 2: now we have to rely on the consciousness of people
Speaker 2: who may not be prone to that sort of thinking
Speaker 2: outside the money. And so we find ourselves, you know,
Speaker 2: even in a place where they're not as concerned about
Speaker 2: having people on the job with the advent of AI.
Speaker 2: So you know, what, what is it that we really
Speaker 2: suggest that they do?
Speaker 1: We do?
Speaker 3: I mean, basically, we have to hold them accountable. They
Speaker 3: you know, corporations are chartered and existed in exist based on us, right.
Speaker 3: They just can't pop out of nowhere and exist and
Speaker 3: do business. We charter it. We charter them. They charter
Speaker 3: within the state that they're located in, and it is
Speaker 3: our responsibility to set the rules of engagement, the rules
Speaker 3: of play. We control. We have power that we don't utilize.
Speaker 3: And what it takes is organization. It takes education, it
Speaker 3: takes understanding, and it takes a will power to push
Speaker 3: against these entities and create the spaces that we want
Speaker 3: to see. We have to lean in. There's no easy
Speaker 3: way about it. And Jesse, I will say this really quickly.
Speaker 3: Your father did that work when I worked at. One
Speaker 3: of the things that drew me when I interned and
Speaker 3: then worked at the Rainbow Coalition, way way way back
Speaker 3: in the day, is that he met with Coca Cola,
Speaker 3: He met with all of these corporate entities requiring him.
Speaker 3: He was talking about DEI back then, like we need
Speaker 3: more folks of black folks, We need more investment in
Speaker 3: our communities, we need more jobs on the ground. He
Speaker 3: was doing that work. We need to pick that work
Speaker 3: back up, that mantle up and lean in and hold
Speaker 3: folks accountable. We can't be scared. We can't sit on
Speaker 3: the sidelines and fold our hands as if we can't
Speaker 3: do anything. Sometimes it takes a lot of skin in
Speaker 3: the game to make it happen. But those that come
Speaker 3: before us put their skin, put their lives in jeopardy
Speaker 3: to try to make this world a better place.
Speaker 1: I am up particularly grateful that our very special guest
Speaker 1: in this hour is none other than Dallo Brooks. Yellow
Speaker 1: Brooks is one of our most capable contributors on all
Speaker 1: education issues, but social justice issues as well. We have
Speaker 1: about three minutes before we come forward before our hard
Speaker 1: stop at the thirty. I'd like to hear your thoughts
Speaker 1: about American interventionism in the Western hemisphere.
Speaker 3: I think it's ridiculous. I think it's a white supremacist tactic.
Speaker 3: I really feel like that, you know, our intervention and
Speaker 3: the ways that we intervene not about humanitarian is not
Speaker 3: around justice. This is not about, you know, making this
Speaker 3: world safer. It's about exploiting resources and the corporate kind
Speaker 3: of you know, you look at the oil or the
Speaker 3: mineral folks looking for ways to make money, and so
Speaker 3: they intervene in places that sometimes a little sketchy for
Speaker 3: other reasons and using that as a as an opportunity
Speaker 3: to go in to to do a land grab or
Speaker 3: resource grap and I think it's problematic and it's going
Speaker 3: to cause us problems into the future.
Speaker 1: I think that's right, Gina.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I I you know what, I I'll be honest.
Speaker 2: I wanted to set you up so that you can
Speaker 2: tell us that there is hope, because sometimes, you know,
Speaker 2: when you feel all of this coming at you, young
Speaker 2: black men, young Hispanic men, you know, poor people or
Speaker 2: people who have less or don't have a college education,
Speaker 2: can sometimes feel the weight of what's going on and
Speaker 2: be so dejected and so depressed and not really even
Speaker 2: try or engage in the process. So thank you, you know,
Speaker 2: for that early word of hope.
Speaker 1: Dialla Junior listening to Jesse Jackson Junior Show on KBLA
Speaker 1: Talk of fifteen eighty. Our very special guest in this
Speaker 1: hour is none other than Diallo Brooks on the J
Speaker 1: Lunch Club. Our creator is hosting Fat Meet Fridays today
Speaker 1: and she's doing a great job. Particularly grateful for that.
Speaker 1: Grateful for the show here on KBLA Talk fifteen to eighty.
Speaker 1: More when we come forward on KBLA Talk fifteen eighty,
Speaker 1: I'm Jesse Jackson Jackson Jr. Welcome forward to the Jesse
Speaker 1: Jackson Junior Show on KBLA Talk fifteen to eighty. Our
Speaker 1: very special guest is none other than Diallo Brooks on
Speaker 1: the J Lunch Club. Doctor Brother Brooks is our resident
Speaker 1: expert and a regular contributor on all issues relating to
Speaker 1: education and many social justice issues to which he has
Speaker 1: engaged in. Y'all will share with us any thoughts that
Speaker 1: you might have on some of the concerns that are
Speaker 1: on the horizon that we should be shifting our attention to, well.
Speaker 3: I think some of the things that we need to
Speaker 3: be shifting our attention to how our federal government is
Speaker 3: moving resources to our states and how they're kind of
Speaker 3: cherry picking which states they will move resources to and
Speaker 3: using the federal government as a hammer those that don't
Speaker 3: comply with them not moving the resources that those places need,
Speaker 3: particularly like an education and other areas that are critical
Speaker 3: the states. So we need to be paying attention to that.
Speaker 3: And also as we begin this year, we really should
Speaker 3: be thinking about how we dig deeper into our civic
Speaker 3: engagement and really prepare ourselves for upcoming mid term elections,
Speaker 3: both on the local level, the state level, and the
Speaker 3: federal level. We have to make sure that we're touching
Speaker 3: all of those different branches of government, because as these
Speaker 3: elections become real, we need to make sure that we're
Speaker 3: doing the really early front end engagement of communities of
Speaker 3: giving them the information that they need, organizing, making sure
Speaker 3: that we're connecting and doing that kind of groundwork Jesse,
Speaker 3: that you know we've done in the past, where we've
Speaker 3: really gone into communities, really talked to folks, really elevated
Speaker 3: the issues of concern and making sure that the candidates
Speaker 3: that are more closely aligned with our values are hearing
Speaker 3: that and also are articulating a plan to engage around
Speaker 3: that so we can have a really robust turnout against
Speaker 3: whatever obstacles that may be put up in front of us.
Speaker 3: And so those are two of the things that I
Speaker 3: think we really need to lean into, really need to
Speaker 3: pay attention to, and really need to organize around going forward.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not particularly concerned about states where democratic
Speaker 1: governors rely largely upon African Americans, Hispanics, women the Rainbow Coalition,
Speaker 1: if you will, to get elected, because they tend to
Speaker 1: cater to their bases within those states. Each of these
Speaker 1: states that the president and the federal government is now
Speaker 1: using this hammer approach and directing resources to their supporters
Speaker 1: have long established patterns of discrimination against African Americans. They
Speaker 1: still find themselves and Hispanics on a side of town
Speaker 1: with confronting various disparities at every level of their existence.
Speaker 1: I don't see how state by state that remedies the
Speaker 1: problem of inequality, but only exacerbates it. I'm sure you
Speaker 1: see what I see on that question that states rights
Speaker 1: doallo without a federal enforcement mechanism to ensure that the
Speaker 1: states themselves are complying with all men are created equal
Speaker 1: and standards of equality and fairness, recognizing that on one
Speaker 1: side of town there may be a silicon valley, but
Speaker 1: on the other side of town there is a perpetual
Speaker 1: ghetto that communities are locked in.
Speaker 3: Ye. Yeah, So I think the way I like to
Speaker 3: approach that is that we have to organize on multiple fronts.
Speaker 3: We can't be singularly focused in our organizing efforts. And
Speaker 3: what I mean by that all politics are local. Local
Speaker 3: is what touches folks first. So we need to organize there,
Speaker 3: but we need to connect the dots between all of
Speaker 3: this systems are in place and why they're so important.
Speaker 3: It's really around kind of this civic education piece that
Speaker 3: I tend to talk about a lot in a lot
Speaker 3: of spaces, is that we have to understand what the
Speaker 3: federal government's role is right, and we have to hold
Speaker 3: the federal government accountable to that role. The civil rights enforcements,
Speaker 3: the enforcements to break down the barriers that exists all
Speaker 3: over the country. We also have to do the same
Speaker 3: thing on the state level. We have to make sure
Speaker 3: that those elected officials on the state level, no matter
Speaker 3: what states we're in, are being held accountable and feel
Speaker 3: the pressure from communities about equity and justice in those places.
Speaker 3: And then locally we need to do the same. And
Speaker 3: so it's about a collective elevation of those voices, a
Speaker 3: collective education of our community, and also supporting and uplifting
Speaker 3: the voices of our community to articulate across all functions,
Speaker 3: all levels of government, the change that we want to see.
Speaker 3: And it's a push, it's a battle, it's an ongoing
Speaker 3: I mean, your father used to always say politics and
Speaker 3: big P and little P. Politics is a contact sport.
Speaker 3: We have to put our shoulder pads and helmets on
Speaker 3: and get in the game and do what's necessary to
Speaker 3: create the chain. We need to elect the folks that
Speaker 3: have bold visions, that are willing to fight, that know
Speaker 3: how to fight, and we need to hold them accountable
Speaker 3: but also support them in that fight as well.
Speaker 1: One of the great challenges Diallo, and I know you
Speaker 1: know this better than most having been a representative at
Speaker 1: the SHOT organization at the Department of Education, is that
Speaker 1: the Trump administration is going through each of these cabinet
Speaker 1: level positions and eliminating the Civil Rights Division or code Enforcement.
Speaker 1: And when my father did say that, we've always had
Speaker 1: the ability to go to the Civil Rights Division of
Speaker 1: the Justice Department, or the Civil Rights Division of the
Speaker 1: Education Department, or the Civil Rights Division of Health and
Speaker 1: Human Services and with out the infinite resources to enforce
Speaker 1: these local problems from the federal government, which each of
Speaker 1: us in our local communities do not have. I mean,
Speaker 1: the government of the United States has resources to prosecute everybody,
Speaker 1: but in a real sense, without that wind beneath our wings,
Speaker 1: we're asking local people to go to court. We're asking
Speaker 1: local pastors and others to raise their resources and literally
Speaker 1: fight against the very government that once stood on our
Speaker 1: side representing our interests, challenging these discriminatory practices.
Speaker 3: And Jesse, this is not new, it's just recent. Right,
Speaker 3: We've had a history for a long time because of
Speaker 3: the gains of the civil rights movement that allow us
Speaker 3: even across administrations to even have those conversations. You could
Speaker 3: have a Republican administration or Democrat administration, but you still
Speaker 3: had those tools in place, some more effective than others,
Speaker 3: but they were there. Dismantling that. That is just the
Speaker 3: reality of what's happening. Those things don't exist. And when
Speaker 3: I was at the Department of Education, I worked the
Speaker 3: White House Black Initiative. It's a longer name, but the
Speaker 3: White House Black Initiative held meeting with community leaders, with
Speaker 3: folks that they worked with and they were housing in
Speaker 3: Department of Education to really prepare folks for the fact
Speaker 3: that this administration, the next administration, would dismantle these protections
Speaker 3: that we have. And it's incumbent upon other structures in
Speaker 3: our community, whether it be civil rights organizations, whether it
Speaker 3: be philanthropic organizations, whether it be law firms willing to
Speaker 3: add pro bono time to do the work, to fill
Speaker 3: in the gap, to put the pressure on to create
Speaker 3: the change we want to see. It's not easy, it's daunting,
Speaker 3: it's hard. But if you look at our history as
Speaker 3: a nation, we've done before. We fought tough fights. Before
Speaker 3: we can engage in tough fights. It requires us to
Speaker 3: collectively push that boulder up the hill to not one person,
Speaker 3: not Jesse Jackson Junior by himself, not Gina by herself,
Speaker 3: not Diallo by himself, but us collectively putting our hands
Speaker 3: on that boulder and pushing it over the top of
Speaker 3: the Hill to create the change we want to see.
Speaker 3: We can do it. It requires us that helmet and
Speaker 3: that shoulder path to be put on to get in
Speaker 3: the game and fight.
Speaker 1: Gina.
Speaker 2: So in civic strategies of which you are the president,
Speaker 2: tell us about some of the things do y'allow that
Speaker 2: you are recommending in the places where you are actually
Speaker 2: involved and can point people to, you know, on the
Speaker 2: West coast, on the East coast, the South, where we
Speaker 2: can get engaged.
Speaker 3: Well. One of the things that I'm involved and I
Speaker 3: am on the board of the National Coalition on Black
Speaker 3: Civic Participation. They are organization that has worked for a
Speaker 3: very long time across civil rights, across the Divine Nine
Speaker 3: organizations and others bringing folks together, labor and others together
Speaker 3: to really civically activate across the country. They have chapters
Speaker 3: all over the country and they have a unity campaign
Speaker 3: that has been ongoing before even this year, before this election,
Speaker 3: that they bring coalition members together to really strategize, share information,
Speaker 3: and do the work necessary to push back. And so
Speaker 3: that's a place that I would really direct folks because
Speaker 3: they're on the ground, but they're also connected to everybody. NAACP,
Speaker 3: Urbanly Labor others like I mentioned the Divine Nine organizations
Speaker 3: and trying to really push back against what's happening, but
Speaker 3: also organize on the ground come forward.
Speaker 1: On the j Lunch Club on Fat Meat Fridays with
Speaker 1: our co host Gina Towns and our very special guest,
Speaker 1: Diallo Brooks, who is also a regular contributor on our program.
Speaker 1: I want to I want Dlla to share with us
Speaker 1: how we can support his work. And we have a
Speaker 1: few more remaining questions before Diallo's word of hope. I'm
Speaker 1: Jesse Jackson Junior listening to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show
Speaker 1: on k BLA Talk fifteen eighty. I'm Jesse Jackson Junior
Speaker 1: listening to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show on k BLA
Speaker 1: Talk fifteen eighty. We've had an amazing hour on Fat
Speaker 1: Meat Fridays with our creator Gina Towns and with our
Speaker 1: very special contributor and guest, mister Diallo Brooks. Particularly grateful
Speaker 1: that you're sharing this afternoon with us. Gina had a
Speaker 1: very interesting question that we'd like to pose to you,
Speaker 1: and she shared it with me during the break, but
Speaker 1: I'm going to let her present it.
Speaker 2: Gina, So Dialla, we all have children who may be
Speaker 2: in their early twenties, young adults, and like you, you
Speaker 2: probably have some some kids that are a little bit younger.
Speaker 2: And I often ask my millennial friends, what are you
Speaker 2: telling your elementary or grade school students, junior high school
Speaker 2: students about what's going on right now, how to navigate
Speaker 2: it and who they need to become.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a great question. And my kids ran from
Speaker 3: nineteen to twenty four, soon to be twenty five, and
Speaker 3: we often have always had conversations about the world that
Speaker 3: we live in. I think one of the things that
Speaker 3: I've always encouraged parents to do is to be real
Speaker 3: about the world that your children live in, because they
Speaker 3: have to function in it, right. And there's no better
Speaker 3: environment for young people to see the world than through
Speaker 3: their parents and through their own home environments, right, And
Speaker 3: so I think it's a safe place to have healthy conversations,
Speaker 3: to have support and hope from navigating because I think
Speaker 3: eventually young people will hear about and see what's happening
Speaker 3: in the world. And I think we always have to
Speaker 3: lean into the hope of the future that you know,
Speaker 3: there's always cycles of trial and tribulation in our world,
Speaker 3: and I think you know, depending on what your faith
Speaker 3: background is. We understand that trial and tribulation is a
Speaker 3: part of the human experience about how we come out
Speaker 3: of those trials and tribulations, how we band together, how
Speaker 3: we support each other, how we learn and grow, but
Speaker 3: also how we lean into the joy that is around
Speaker 3: us as well. So often this environment is full of
Speaker 3: negative energy, of negative takes and negative you know, context
Speaker 3: around things that are happening, and we don't take the
Speaker 3: time to lean into the joy that exists. Because there
Speaker 3: is joy that exists. There are friendships, there are family members.
Speaker 3: There things that was on the show a few weeks ago,
Speaker 3: before the holiday, before the break, before the New year,
Speaker 3: when there was a community bookstore. Those things, to me
Speaker 3: are the bright spots, places where people can gather. And
Speaker 3: you know, even in this moment, Gina, when we see
Speaker 3: the tragedy of Minnesota, the tragedy in Minnesota is also
Speaker 3: coupled with the hope as well, because there were people there.
Speaker 3: It didn't happen in the dark. There were folks pushing back,
Speaker 3: there were people protesting. There were people that are calling
Speaker 3: on their cell phone saying, hey, Ice is about to
Speaker 3: come in the community. So for people are trying to
Speaker 3: protect each other, protect their neighbors in their communities. We
Speaker 3: have to uplift that. We have to lift those moments
Speaker 3: for young people to know that it is our responsibility.
Speaker 3: It's about you know, I come out of the you
Speaker 3: know Kwanza tradition, you know ujima where you're talking about
Speaker 3: collective work and responsibility. It is our collectiveness uh in eumosia,
Speaker 3: about unity, about us coming together. If we lean into
Speaker 3: those things, I think the future UH can can move
Speaker 3: in the right direction.
Speaker 2: Can I respond to that, Jesse, you know, thank you
Speaker 2: for that. I think that that direction with some purpose
Speaker 2: is really what people need to hear. And we almost
Speaker 2: have to say it affirmingly, repeatedly, because we forget when
Speaker 2: we get bogged down and distracted by all the things
Speaker 2: that are going on. But I find it remarkable that
Speaker 2: that God puts us in a place for those who
Speaker 2: believe the universe, whatever it is that you subscribe to,
Speaker 2: that the world really does not have any new faces
Speaker 2: or schemes. It is that in every generation we have
Speaker 2: to have something that reminds us, prods us, and pushes
Speaker 2: us back, almost like a shepherd with with a staff
Speaker 2: that has to you know, almost beat us back into
Speaker 2: don't go over that cliff. Now, let's get back in
Speaker 2: line and remember who we are, whose we are, and
Speaker 2: how we ought to be.
Speaker 1: For sure, I couldn't I couldn't agree more. And that's
Speaker 1: a wonderful a wonderful thought leading into the weekend. And
Speaker 1: to continue a similar thought heading into the weekend, Yellow,
Speaker 1: you haven't extended word of hope for us tonight?
Speaker 3: Yeah, my hope ought today My grandson is just turned
Speaker 3: uh grandson grandson. Yes, I have a grandson just turned
Speaker 3: two years old today. Wow, Yes I am a grandfather.
Speaker 3: I'm scared I don't have grandchildren yet. But oh and
Speaker 3: I'm older than the yellow. Wow, it'll come coming when guy,
Speaker 3: when God calls that. But yeah, I mean I lean
Speaker 3: into that. And and it goes back to what I
Speaker 3: was saying before, Gina, about the celebrate, the celebration of life,
Speaker 3: the celebration of new opportunities that present itself as this
Speaker 3: year turned, you know, as twenty twenty five ended in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six began, It is a new opportunity for us.
Speaker 3: It is a new opportunity to love our neighbors, to
Speaker 3: celebrate with our neighbors, to support our neighbors, to lock
Speaker 3: arms with our neighbors and our friends and our family
Speaker 3: members and make sure that we're stepping into this world
Speaker 3: and we're presenting our opposition as an opposition. Of love
Speaker 3: is that we love humanity, We love the ability for
Speaker 3: us to be free, and we will lean into that love,
Speaker 3: and that love will then push us toward the successes
Speaker 3: that we need. It's going to be hard sometimes, but
Speaker 3: that's okay. Kids fall down and skin their knees because
Speaker 3: they're learning how to walk. But it's okay. You let
Speaker 3: them learn how to walk, and we will go through
Speaker 3: this day, but we will also emerge on the other side.
Speaker 3: I believe even that, and that's why I wake up
Speaker 3: every single morning and do the work that I did.
Speaker 2: You know, that's interesting that you say that and you
Speaker 2: hold that out is hope, because I think the other
Speaker 2: thing is how you want to be remembered in history.
Speaker 2: Each of us has an opportunity when you get up
Speaker 2: every day to make that difference, and some people get
Speaker 2: chronicled in it. You know, some people are chronicled in
Speaker 2: it two thousand years ago, one hundred years ago, and
Speaker 2: sixty years ago. So thank you for that little bit
Speaker 2: of admonishment to stay focused and that encouragement as well.
Speaker 1: Dalla, my pleasure particularly honored that Diallo Brooks joins us
Speaker 1: once again on the Jesse Jackson Junior show cable that
Speaker 1: KBLA Talk fifteen to eighty. We've had an amazing fat
Speaker 1: meet Friday with Bishop Tulton and now Diallo Brooks, and
Speaker 1: now we're heading into our weekend. Gina, what are you
Speaker 1: doing this weekend?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I think I'm happy helping some campaign
Speaker 2: go forward towards some term elections that we're going to
Speaker 2: need to probably fight to have.
Speaker 1: Jiallo, what are you doing this weekend?
Speaker 3: This weekend is a recharge weekend. I'll hopefully get to
Speaker 3: see my grandson, spend a little bit of time with him,
Speaker 3: and if the weather breaks, I might try to get
Speaker 3: outside and get on my bike to just kind of
Speaker 3: clear my head and refresh before the next week.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't be wrong. I want to stick my head in
Speaker 1: a bucket of cold water some days and just just
Speaker 1: chill and anyway. I want to let everyone know that
Speaker 1: I want them to be safe this holiday weekend. Stay
Speaker 1: out of the way of law enforcement to the extent
Speaker 1: that we can respectfully protest, raise our voices. Continue to
Speaker 1: fight the good fight, but do not come close to
Speaker 1: these officers. Stay away from them. They have been weaponized
Speaker 1: and they mean business. And I shared it with that
Speaker 1: with our listeners in Los Angeles when the National Guard
Speaker 1: was first sent to Los Angeles. Buy them some coffee,
Speaker 1: I am some donuts. They're just people trying to do
Speaker 1: their job. But right now they are charged by an
Speaker 1: administration that is without spirit, that is about moral core,
Speaker 1: that is without love for humanity or love for people.
Speaker 1: There's a moral depravity here that we have not seen
Speaker 1: as Americans in the highest office in the land. And
Speaker 1: because of that moral depravity, we must take the necessary precautions.
Speaker 1: Remember this, we all go home at night. No matter
Speaker 1: what confrontation, what fights we have, what disagreements we have, Tonight,
Speaker 1: we all go home. I'm Jesse Jackson Junior listening to
Speaker 1: Jesse Jackson Junior show on KBLA Talk fifteen to eighty.
Speaker 1: Look forward to seeing everyone next week. Until then, we're
Speaker 1: out peace