Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Bakari Sellers on the Present and Future State of Politics

Episode Date: January 25, 2022

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay break down a Thought Warrior’s question with producer Trudy Joseph (8:21) before welcoming author, attorney, and political commentator Bakari Sellers to discuss the dire state of politics (30:49) and how citizens can make a difference (52:47). Plus, an interviewer's cringey question to Ari Lennox has the internet abuzz (1:00:26).  Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Bakari Sellers Producers: Trudy Joseph and Donnie Beacham Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, yo, yo, thought warriors. What is up? Higher learning is on. It is I, Van Lathan Jr. And it's me, Rachel Lynn Lindsay. Rachel and Lindsay. Today is the day. Yes, today is the day.

Today is the day. It's release date. Yeah, I kind of just want to disappear. I just kind of just want to disappear. It's weird. You'll see when you get to this point. Why? What's weird about it?

I don't know. It's exciting because I've never. done a book before and I'm putting myself out there in a way I never have, but it's equally terrifying at the same time. Like you're giving people another opportunity to have all these opinions about you, but these are new opinions because you're learning about a whole different side of me, including opinions from my family because they're going to learn some new things as well. I didn't give them the book before. They're going to read with everybody else. Right. They're going to read with everyone else. You're finally going to talk about your disdain for

these long field trips, religious field trips that you would take. with the judge visiting different churches and temples around the southeast United States. They probably appreciate that better than the stuff that I'm discussing. You better not give the judge too much business on this. I'm telling you. I'm not going to tell the judges. I'm telling my business, which still, you know, you know how it has grown up. You don't talk about family business. You don't talk about yourself. You don't tell people. You have more about the judge or more about pretty hair? About pretty hair?

That's your mom. That's my mom. Her mom is pretty hair. I would probably say my dad. I have more about my dad. Can't wait for this. Can't wait for this. I can't wait to get miss me with that in the mail.

I can't wait until it comes. I'm mad that you haven't already. I don't understand what's taking. You probably haven't checked your mail. That's probably what it is. It might be in there on the counter. It might be there. I'm going to do on Instagram Live.

I think this. Saturday, I think everybody needs to jump on. I think I'm going to do, I'm going to choose a chapter. And I'm going to do a dramatic reading from Miss Me with that. Don't do this. What is this your recipe? Is this your recipe? This is why I don't want you to watch the season.

This is why I don't want you to see the Bachelorette. I can't wait to do this. Dramatic reading. Put it in the Reddit. Put it on the Facebook. All the thought words. I'm going to do it. dramatic reading.

I might even do it in Rachel voice. Listen, there won't be a family meeting. You totally have permission to use my voice. Yeah, I'm going to do it. I got to go through the book and see which chapter is going to be. It's probably going to be the Miss Sex Education of Rachel Lindsay because of how it starts off. That's probably going to be the essay you're going to want to start off with. I can't wait.

I'm going to, I'm going to do this. I'm going to put my little glasses on. I'm going to have, I'm going to know I'm going to do. I'm going to have like a fireplace behind me because, oh, yo, are you aware of me? I'm coming over. I'm coming over if you're doing this. I'm with that. I'm going to do this.

This is going to happen. Like, I can't wait. Are you aware of the fireplaces that they have on YouTube? Have we talked about this? Brian and I used to use it during COVID when we would do stuff. We would do what? Oh, okay. Let me explain.

Christ. Wow. We would, we would do interviews. We would do the. this whole interview segment thing in quarantine, you know, people were trying out new stuff. And we would have the fire behind us during our interviews. What kind of freaks are getting horny off YouTube? You know what?

Stop. Christ. Stop. You guys, man. I saw you post him with the abs. Yeah. Well, he posted that picture by himself. You didn't see the picture he posted on his page?

No. The last thing I saw on Brian's page. was Brian with all the fellas. Go look at the last picture. And I said, oh, can we post some thirst traps? Let's use that to promote my book. Oh, yeah. God damn, this nigga's in great shape.

Jesus, Christ, just stretching my neck. Get out of here, Brian. It's so, it's so, it's, we're the same age. Like, why can't? Damn it. The rage. Yeah. Whatever, man.

Very upsetting now. But I'm happy with the books coming out today. The books coming out. Miss me with that. You can get it in all the places that you get books. All the places. Yes. Barnes & Noble.

Is it Barnes & Nobles or Barnes & Noble? Man, if you hadn't said that, I could have told you. Is it? Is Barnes & Noble or is it with an S? I used to say nobles. Well, black people, better people put an S on stuff. And, you know, we love to say a V. The Barnes & Nobles, you know.

Right. I don't think there's an S. Squid games. Like, y'all seen squid games? They correct me all the time at extra. It's a squid game. But by the way, it does kind of make sense because it's multiple people that it would be games. It is multiple games.

No. No, it's multiple games. Yeah, yeah. And it's a Barnes & Noble. No ass. No ass at the end. No ass. No ass.

Barnes and Noble. I don't know if they still have books a million. Go to your local black book store. Yes. I don't say that enough. Yes. Yeah. Here in L.A.

there's a place called Niga Books. No. What's it called? It's over off central. I don't know. I don't, I order all my books from, I literally don't go into bookstores anymore.

I order all my books off the internet. Amazon? Oh, but you know who has a bookstore? Who? If you're in Philly, Mark Lamont Hill has a. a bookstore. It's called Mark Lamont Hill Bookstore. I think it's called Mr. Peeper's books

or something like that. Something crazy. Mark Lamont Hill Bookstore. It's called order it from Mark Lamont. It's called Uncle Bobby's. Support independent bookstores. You can get this book anywhere. Yes, but books a million to Amazon Target, Walmart. But support your independent Walmart. Go to an independent book. Yeah. Uncle Bobby's

books, coffee and books. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, if you guys are in the tri-state area, whatever states, go to Uncle Bobby's bookstore. Okay. He's got a collection here. He's, you can shop audio books. You can get mugs and gift cards and all kinds of apparel. You should go to Uncle Bobby's. You should go there.

Oh, and do like a book signing. Yeah. Yeah, they got upcoming events. Everything I'm doing is virtual. So that's, you know, but when things open up, I would love to go to Uncle Bobby's. Yeah. Yeah. They had Portia Williams there December 1st.

She did, The Pursuit of Portia, How I grew into My Purpose and Power. Yeah, so I'm sure that book was riveting. Look, today is National Opposite Day. I'm not for this. I'm not for it either. I think it's stupid. How about it's National Give Niggers the Right to Vote Day?

How about that? That is a very much part of opposite day. we're doing every we're doing every day we're we've created every day except for let black people vote and make the police stop beating up black people day they got days for hot dogs they got donut day would you be happy if we had a day a day where you couldn't beat on us unlawfully arrest us stop us But see, to me, that day is the day they passed the George Floyd violence and policing now. So you would get to do because that's happening that day.

That's the day. Yeah. So then we need a combo day. We need a combo day. We need a combo day. Speaking of that, we have Baccari Sellers from the Baccari Sellers podcast and Cian and joining us a little bit. We're going to talk about the Democrats, Joe Biden,

and what he's been able to do and not do since he's been in office. You know what I mean? We're talking to McCar Sellers about that. Trudy, jump in real quick. Hey. It's Trudy's quarter time. How you doing, Trudy? I'm good.

So, Trudy, you saw this. There was a post that was on the Reddit. Then it took the post off of the Reddit. There was a lady on here, and she was talking about her long and arduous battle with trying to date black men. What is she? I think she's pretty black.

I mean, I don't know. It couldn't really tell off Reddit, but just based on the post, she sounded like she was a black woman. Truddy, you read this post. Yes. And what she said to post, basically. I paraphrased it. It was a long post and she deleted. I don't know.

I'm not sure why she deleted. It's very upsetting. But what she said in this post was that she tried with black men. She tried to date black men. She dated black men. She dated black men. She dated something like six black men throughout her 20s. And she said, without fail, every single black man she dated, cheated on her. And then she went through, listen to Rachel. And then she went through. And then she went through a long sort of a explanation about how sometimes it can be hard

to find a black man. She doesn't know how she she can she can get over the hump with this and all of the stuff. She's talking about it. She's talking about the fact that she wants a black

man. She feels like she needs a black man but she's been mistreated by black man. Truly, have you ever, oh, can be honest for second. I wrote the post and I just. I was about to say, whoa. Whoa.

It was too good to not say that. Rachel, I'm so proud of you that you learned how to, Rachel has learned the art of the red herring. She's like, look, I'm so proud that Rachel, oh, she all grown up. She knows how to spin a yard. I did not. Trudy, please respond.

I didn't see this post. So Trudy, you read the post. She's basically saying she wants a brother, but she feels like she can't get done right by the brothers. What do you think, Trudy? Well, for one, I just, I feel like I need more context because I think that's very limiting to just say that like, or I feel like it's dangerous to make the generalization

that all black men, she or all black men, are the reason why I'm going through this particular thing. She could be dating a particular kind of person, which I've done, like who hasn't dated somebody and been cheated on, like, thing to think it is me. But I think that as I got older and started like dating more intentionally, not necessarily like the football player at school that's like starting. And like, that's a person that I used to date. And I stopped dating that kind of person.

and then I started dating guys that I felt like were smarter than me or could teach me something or I don't know, just had something to add because actually, Vann. So as I saw Lex this past weekend, we were talking about the exchange that happens when you date somebody and feeling like, especially I think, I think if I'm getting her post correct, like she feels like she also in some ways was contributing a lot more to or bringing more to the table for them than what they were her. and that definitely has also been my experience. But as I've grown up and started dating, like,

just different kinds of men, I definitely think it's important to date somebody that's bringing something to you because when you break up and you guys don't end up together in the long run, it's like they took something from you. So it's important that you have something back. So, wait, wait, if you break up and you guys don't end up in a long run,

what they take from you? Like, honestly, I'm going to keep it funky. every guy that I've dated, I've leveled up, like, in a big way. Same, same, Trudy. Every single guy. And I can't sit here and say that the same happened for me in return. And I think that a lot of black women in particular can identify with that. And I feel like more than the fact that they're cheating on her,

I think that that's like a subconscious thing that she's also kind of working through. And then, like, you want black love. And he took her time. What did he take from her time? You can't take time. She can't wasted her time. You can't take time. Yes, she can't.

Time flows for the time. You can't time. She could have been spending it on somebody else. Her cell. Right. Took her time. He wasted a time. Right.

However you want to say it. No, he didn't waste her time. Trudy. Trudy. He wasted her time. I'm not going to lose her. He didn't waste her time. He didn't waste your time.

But, yeah. That's what I'm saying. So, so, so, so, so basically. basically, it just makes no sense to say that somebody wasted your time, right? So it makes no sense to say somebody. You had a relationship, the relationship lasted as long as it did, right? You know what I mean? It's not a time wasted.

Whatever the less is you learn from the relationship. It's fine. Difference of opinion. I want to ask Trudy about something. When you say that every guy that you've dated, you've leveled up. What does that mean? Beyonce upgrade you. That was me.

How? How have you upgraded them? Tell me. Okay. So my first boyfriend in life, I don't want like, yeah, would have never, I was applying for college. I was actually in college at the time because we dated from like high school on and off and then like on and off when I was in college. I used to be studying and he wouldn't understand that, you know, I'm busy. I can't just like be on the phone with you.

And a lot of that became conversations just about like going to school and like bettering yourself, not saying that college is only made that you better yourself. But like at the time he was just, I think he did loss prevention. not like Walmart or something. Then he ended up going to school while we were together. I was helping him write his essays, helping him just with the college process. And boom, he gets into school.

And then he starts acting up too. And we just had to cut ties. Like, which I mean, I need to cut ties with him anyways. So that was whatever. Other boy, my college situation, shy, he was the devil. Like the devil reincarnated. Like I am me now because he was so shitty. that boy in particular

how did I not help him so he was a people talking about but like whatever he was from Chicago he had the classic story of like I'm a hood nigger that was just super super smart from the west side of Chicago so y'all know it's serious whatever

went to like a super smart school all scholarship whatever so you know for me when I met him I was like oh like this is different this is a guy that's leveled up this is you know and he still that little hood, but a little ex-factor that I was looking for at the time. And I started dating him and I just realized that he was like the worst person in the whole entire world. He didn't know how to treat women. He didn't, he barely knew how to treat his mom.

Sorry. Oh. Very telling. For me, a very, like, alarming thing that now I take into like my life, but whatever. I just didn't know how to also like my mom is like a real estate agent. She had bought like another house at the time. So I remember I was like keeping his stuff for the summer break. So we drove to my new house.

And girl, listen, that's what I'm talking about, leveled up. I was free storage. Comes to my house. So we could drop this stuff off. And it was like a really big, beautiful house. And he had never really been in an environment like that. He had never been in a family that was like mine. And this is like not me putting, this is not me saying.

This is like things that he's actually told me. And he said dating me, he saw like the other side or how he's never seen black people live, how my family lives. And that was like a really important thing for him. And like ever since then, he's just been on like higher education. And, you know, I'm going to go and work for the CDC and do all these extra things. And now I think he's in like a page people. But he was like, if it wasn't for you exposing me to this, you know, this life, like I would have never known. You know what I got in return?

a broken heart, a nigger that cheated on me, a nigga that was lying up and down the street in Chicago, just like an unaffectionate, emotionally unavailable human being that really turned me to a savage and then I moved. I was about to say, I'm so glad we got out of this topic because this is the nigger. This is the nigger who made you this one. I'm so glad.

Trudy. Trudy. There's always one. Trudy, Trudy, but look, I'm glad that everyone's hearing this right. And there are a lot of guys out here right now. There are a lot of people out here that are listening to this podcast that are feeling vindication. Because the question that they asked the minute we started doing, Trudy's corner is who hurt you? That's a new game show.

You're like, that should be the new game show. Today, Van Lathen, the host of. of who hurt you? And then we should put like a bunch of different categories. It was like, hey, this, this person made me sit down while giving me, while giving, giving me lectures because they didn't want to look up to me because I was tall than them. Ding, ding, it's my dad. Made me feel small.

Who hurt you? Trudy, there's always one. There's always one. And I didn't even that. Mine had a baby on me. Oh, during, during the three weeks, we were on a break and didn't tell me about it. I found out after the baby was two months old. That's legal.

It's in the book. It's in the book. That's legal. Hold on, hold on. Hold on for a second. Ghosting. We have to review that. We have to review this play.

Let's review this play. Like we're calling it a ref's review. All right, we're going under the booth. Y'all are on a break. That's legal. Which is the lie I told myself, which is why I stayed with him. But that's not a lie. No.

But it doesn't consider. But here's the problem. is what I would tell anybody who's listening to this, and this is why it's problematic. When they made the baby, we were on a break. However, he knew she was pregnant, continued a relationship with me and never told me he had a baby on the way. I saw him to see after the baby was born.

It is. I'm your girl. It is, my business. You got a whole child out here. Nothing had that to do with you. It's not your situation. When your mom is acting different to me at your football game, wondering why this girl is here?

Because you had a baby last night. Last night. Right. Yes. I'm not over it. Right. So, so let me ask you this, Rachel. When you guys were on your break, did you hook up with anybody else?

I did not. That's your fault. That's your fault. I know. That's your fault. That's your fault. What's the point of being on a break? What's the point of being on a break?

So work on yourself so you can be come back better, build back better for that. Build back better. You had this motherfucker on a buildback better plan. And similar to the real life one, it failed. So, so look, so look, Trudy. Yes. Now that we know, now that we know that all of your very astute observations, that all of your actual very, you talk some real shit. I can't think.

observations that all of your actual very you talk some real shit and it's really good shit but now that we know that it's all coming from a place of hurt what do we do what do we do oh yeah listen let me just say it's hurt it's hurt it's hurt you trutie i will say let me just say because i i and now trudy you went from you went from later hold on you went from you went from building a nigger from nothing to now a motherfucker can't wear a hat around you like come on man you like you like you're like you You went from taking a man up from nothing and building him into a person

to now a nigger can't wear a motherfucking hat. I call that wisdom. Okay. Y'all know what my real name is. I'm an old soul is wisdom. That's all that is wisdom. That's so funny. Let me just say it's what?

That was what 2015, 2014 maybe? What are we now? 22, that nigga definitely liked my picture. I don't even follow him. DM my friend told her that he was proud of me for wet. So I just want to go on record and say one thing about them tables, they always turn. Yes, they do, Trudy.

Yes, they do. All right. Trudy, I'm going to be honest with you. Fuck that nigga. Period. Fucker. I want to take you to the dime tonight and just point that,

for you to go talk to. Fuck her. Oh, no, no. The niggas come talk to me. Oh! Oh! We're taking a break. The playoffs are here,

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Tramphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphia is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tramphia, proper training is required. Tramphia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis.

Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need of a disease. vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramfaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Trimfair Radio.com. We are back. The NFL. Oh, by the way, did you watch football this weekend? This weekend? This weekend? I did. I caught them here and there. I was on the move, so I didn't get it. I didn't get to watch the full games. You missed the best weekend of football of all times. I know. No, I watched some of it. I watched some of it. Like literally the Chiefs Bills game is the best football game I've ever seen. I saw the second half of it. So I saw what I needed to see.

I saw the records that were set. The points being scored. You know, I also, I like, look, do you know why Patrick Mahomes plays so good? Because the playoffs are winner go home. He's not trying to go home to his fiancee and to his little brother.

Man. He's trying to keep it going. Like they are so fucking annoying, man I'm sorry Shout out to my whole girl Kayla who's Travis Kelsey's girl She'd be in the videos too sometimes Like I don't

Why you said it like that? That's the truth Why you said it like that That's like literally I've been noticed since she was an intern at TMZ Why do you say it like that She is in my wrong She is in the videos

Those are friends You call them super annoying Those are her friends She's in the videos too they're part of the same chiefs friends and families family thing whatever um but jackson mohms and patro homes girl is just the most annoying people in the world man it don't want to go home so he's got to be embarrassed it's like he's trying to he's out here playing for his team playing for his like his career and they're over here making tic-tok videos spraying champagne all over people it's just so

much. It makes you wonder, is he like that? Is Patrick like that? Because they've been again, he's been with this girls in high school. Yeah, yeah, it's been a lot of time. All right, the NFL has halted testing for unvaccinated players in the memo, it says. The NFL of the Players Association have agreed to halt daily COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated players, aligning them with protocols developed last month for vaccinated players and coaches. So it seems as if COVID doesn't exist right now in the NFL. We are on the backside, it looks like, of the Omicron surge, with, of course, more surges to come.

Like, you know, drop like downloadable content from your favorite fucking video game, the more they're coming out. Is the NFL right to do this? Is this, because you're seeing a lot of, this happened all over the place. You're seeing the restrictions are lax. The NFL is a billion dollar business. people are just going and say, hey, Omar Khan's mild, they're moving forward.

What do you think about this? Well, I think you have to ask the question of what is it that the NFL is standing for? What are they about? Who are they trying to protect? I think that this decision falls in line with a lot of decisions that they've made, that everything is based on money. And it's not really about the protection for the health and safety of the athletes. I mean, the fact, it's very, it's not a coincidence that in the timing that this decision was made

to not test unvaccinated players at a time when, and I've suffered from it, Omicron is out here alive and well, and you had 756 NFL players test in a matter of weeks in December positive with this virus. And then all of a sudden, you want to, right as Aaron Rogers 90-day period ends, because he tested positive,

So 90 days he doesn't have to test. Right as it's about to expire, you decide that you're going to change the rules and unvaccinated players no longer have to get tested. Because if you do test them and they potentially test positive, this could ruin your champion, not championship, but your playoff games. I mean, clearly, I think that they have drawn a line in the sand of what's important to them and what's not. It's very much so contradicts the way that they started this whole thing.

and with the timing of the way that the virus is running rampant right now in our country, you really don't care about this virus spreading. You care about the dollars. All right. Now, let me, can I call you out a little bit? Is that okay? Please. Please.

How did you get overcrime? Unclear. And that's if that's factual. Now, it is suspect. Unclear. There are two ways that I could have gotten it. We will never know for sure. One is that somebody at work who I am in very close,

contact with, got it right before. Billy fucking Bush. No, Billy. No, not Billy. Not Billy. Somebody at work that I worked very close with, tested positive, and was right around me before I left. Now, I tested, took a test before I left, but it would take time for my symptoms to settle

in. I very well could have contracted it from that person. I also could have contracted it at the National Championship weekend. Okay? Okay. I was out there. I didn't wear a mask all the time. It's very likely I could have contracted it there.

Okay, so let's, so this is why bringing this up. This is the thing that I've been wondering. So I think that I had Omicron. We talked about it. I have tests in here. I'm a hypercrime drug about it. I think that I had Omicron or just COVID? I think that I had Omicron because when I went,

this is now. Okay. No, it's not new. Remember I told you this. I told you, we talked about it here on the podcast, It's talking about the fact that somebody who I boxed with said that they got, that they had COVID. And then I was feeling sick for like the next five or six days, but I didn't test positive for it because I took the test in the first couple of days. I think that I had it, but it takes a while for it to show up on the test.

Whatever. Either one of us. Let's look at it like this. And this is kind of the thing that I'm wondering about with people who run businesses like the NFL. Let's say, let's take both scenarios. Let's say that you didn't get Obokron at the national championship game. I did. Let's say you didn't.

Okay. Let's say you didn't and then you went, right? That means you spread Omel Cron at the national championship. Potentially, yeah. Right. So if you spread it or if you got it, going to the game is the common denominator in the spread or the infection right there. Be going to the gym. You're correct.

So I will say nobody I was around. I know caught COVID, but go ahead. That's what I'm talking about. But you're right. You're absolutely right. So what I'm saying is, I think, what I'm saying is, I think, think it's going to be in the future, in the near future, harder for businesses like the NFL to, and I'm not saying the decision that it made is right.

Obviously, it's wrong. But the reality is that if people are going to the games untested and not sure whether or not they have COVID, the guys playing in the games, the stadiums are full. So I think that everybody is just going to be a little bit more less. guess what I'm saying is it's wrong, but I think that I'm running out of outrage for it. Not saying that you had any outrage. Just saying I'm running out of give a fuck, I think. Well, when the CDC shortens the time to five days, which I definitely was still symptomatic after five days, when you have airlines doing certain things, when you have organizations

with the NFL doing certain things, it is hard to care. It is hard to have a strong stance. I think I could have received it better with the NFL if they just said. hey, for the 2022, 2023 season, these are the new rules. But you changed it right before the playoffs. So it's like, you don't really care. You just care about making that money and making sure that all the people that are on the field that the audience wants to see. I think that it's more of the timing of it that is a little bit strange.

But I get what you're saying. I mean, listen, we're all going to, like most people are going to catch this virus one way or another. but can you help stop the spread of it? Whether that's in the audience with who you're allowing to come to the game or whether that's the players on the field who are in such close contact with one another and sweating and breathing on one another where it's more susceptible to, I mean, we've seen how quickly it can pass. Look at what happened in the month of December.

Yeah, very true, very true. Okay, we're going to take a break. And in this break, we're about to bring you guys an interview with Bikari sellers. Now, a lot of you guys have questions for the Biden administration. You might be wondering if you're black or if you're an ally. Is the Biden administration really, really posted Ls like the Los Angeles Lakers? I really yelled up, or are we not looking at this with enough nuance? McCarrey's going to be back on the other side of his break to answer some of those questions. This episode is brought to by WeatherTech. Everyone knows winter is the MVP and

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One of the smartest people in the world right now joining us on the podcast. This is a guy that when I am frantic politically, when I am scared, when I don't know what's going to happen, when I don't know who's going to win, who's going to lose, when I am in the weeds, I call this gentleman and I watch this gentleman to have him. him make some sense of what's going on out here in these political streets. He is also a contributor to CNN. He is also the host of the Baccaria Sellers podcast here on the Ringer podcast network. He is everything. A former representative, a house representative himself, like all of this stuff, an attorney, he's everything.

Baccari Sellers joins us today on how I learning. How you doing, my brother. Man, I'm glad to be. I've been waiting on my invite. I'm just glad to be one in the number, you know? We are happy to have you. Can I do a wellness check for Bacari? Because, wow, if Van is hitting you up that much

and is always calling you when he's in a frantic state, are you okay? Let's do a wellness check and just make sure. Because, oh, my God. I can't even imagine. Van with friends like Rachel, who needs Republicans? Wow. Coming in hot.

Okay. All right. Okay. So we're going to, so. So, Bark, Bukar, I'm going to tell you why I specifically wanted to have you on the podcast. Sure. With the way things are going in Washington, it's very easy for me to get on this podcast and kick the Biden administration's back in every single podcast. All right.

What I wanted was to help our listeners out there who are torn between the fact that they are progressives, that they are liberals, and want to see their agenda pushed. But they are also dissatisfied with the rate that it's good. going on a national scale right now to give them a realistic understanding of who's to blame for what, what could be being done better, and how you are responsible as a person interested in politics right now, but at the same time holding the people that you voted for accountable. So I'll just ask you a straight up question. How much of this is President Biden's fault? The failure of the John Lewis voted right to act.

The fact that we're not going to get the bill back better plan, the fact that the George Floyd Violence and Belize Act fell through, how much is this president of Biden's fault? You know, that's a good question. It's a big question, and it's a nuanced question. And I think you can only answer it in a format such as this. I mean, it's even difficult to answer in an op-ed. You have to be able to flesh your thoughts out a little bit.

So I think it's easier to start with giving this administration credit for what they deserve credit for. they took over when you had a pandemic unlike anything we've seen in literally a hundred years raging out of control you know they did a great job of being shots in arms they just you know sent hundreds of millions of tests out they have done it early probably however that still is a positive step they actually put money in people's pockets when they were hurting the most and we can't forget that Recovery Act that was passed. Then something that's not quite as sexy, but will benefit all of us.

We'll benefit all your cousins, et cetera, including your respect to states and municipalities and counties has been this transportation bill that was passed in a bipartisan fashion. The difficult part of that, though, is that you probably won't see the, you won't reap the benefit of what was passed for five, six, seven years, right? So it's hard to really feel that. So those are all pros. Some of the things that have been, and trust me, you know, constructive criticism is good, outright criticism is good. I think you have every right to do that, mainly because black people are the reason that they're actually in office. I think there's a great deal of frustration with the lack of urgency that this administration approach criminal justice and voting rights. And I think that's fair. I think that's a fair criticism. You know, the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act didn't fail because of Democrats of the White House had failed plainly. because people like me put their faith in Tim Scott.

And we were wrong. Tim Scott said he was going to go out there and be able to get 10 Republicans to come with them. He was going to negotiate in good faith in Tim, who's a friend of mine fundamentally didn't negotiate in good faith for the George Floyd Justice and policing. I've been in private rooms with Tim in the negotiations of that bill with families of individuals who were killed by police. And the effort didn't match the rhetoric that was put forth. And so I can't put that squarely on the shoulders of the Biden administration,

although I wish they would have acted with more urgency in the Department of Justice. I believe something's coming, but the Department of Justice or the president puts forth some executive orders to kind of make that real. I mean, voting rights is something that they put behind, build back better. And for me, it's like, why do black folk always have to wait? Why is voting rights something that comes behind something else? Why isn't this something that you push from the beginning? but is this his fault totally the answer is no because you have white moderates who king told us to be careful for and watch out for who rather preserve order over justice and when I say order that means the filibuster and so you look at the totality of this of everything that's going on it's a very nuanced answer I mean they've done remarkably well for what they had to emerge from but had they done good enough by us and the answer is they have work to do I I think the biggest disconnect is the fact that I'm not

sure this administration fully grasp the pain that black folk feel in the streets of this country. I think that, you know, I made a joke the other day, but it's true. You know, my father was concerned about at the Pigley-Wigley was talking about the increase in price of whiting and flounder. I mean, that's a real thing. I mean, you know, you talk about people who go and shop and they're realizing that their bill is $60 more than it used to be. You know, the crime goes up because people and,

And our mutual friend, Wax, Charlemagne, told me, you know, Wax told me something that was profound. Wax told me, he said, you don't, people will rob you now and you don't even have to be rich. You just have to have more than they have. That's because there's so much pain in the streets. And the last thing I'll tell you is, you know, messaging around COVID has to get better. It's been inconsistent. And we're going to, in 10 years, we're going to see the detriment to this generation of not being in the classroom. We won't see it immediately, but the fact that kids aren't able to be in the

classroom is going to be something we'll see in 10 years. And so that's a very long, nuanced answer to probably not answer your question directly because there is no direct answer. You know, I was going to wait on this, but since you brought up Senator Tim Scott, let me go ahead and ask a question about him. He's from South Carolina, Senator South Carolina. You're from South Carolina. I'm interested as you obviously know each other. I'm interested in, I'm interested in your take on him, especially in regards to him voting against the voting, the Voting Rights Act, John Lewis Voting Rights Act, you know, when he wants to put on the black hat, I guess, and talk about how he was raised and where he's from and who his grandfather is, but then he

votes against something that could be better for the black community. What is your take on that? How do you reason that? Have you had conversations? with him in regards to that. So first, I've known Tim for a very, very, very long time. I was already in the house. I want to say four years when Tim got elected to the state house. And prior to that, he was on the county council. I remember when Tim announced he was running for lieutenant governor in South Carolina.

He was the frontrunner for lieutenant governor. And then I can't recall what happened. Maybe somebody died or somebody resigned. I don't know what happened. but they ended up becoming a vacancy for the first congressional district. He abandoned his race, lieutenant governor, and ran for Congress.

And he beat Paul Thurman. He beat Strong Thurman's son. Tim is a very interesting cat. Tim is somebody who is deeply religious. Tim is somebody who is very, very, very Charleston. You know, he was raised in Charleston. He was raised in a community, and he had an upbringing that's very familiar to us all.

He was raised by his mom. You know, he'll tell you about the help that he got from an individual who owned a Chick-fil-A and helped bring him up. But he knows that struggle. So I would never say that Tim did not grow up and understand what that struggle is of our shared experience. However, there is a disconnect between what Tim believes to be best for our people, and what truly is. Tim fundamentally believes

in the limited government, conservative Ronald Reagan ideology, whether or not someone wants to say he believes in that because it was the quickest way for him to reach the level of success. I don't necessarily buy any of that. I think he truly believes the words that he says. But we have fundamental disagreements

about how we got here. I think he's, I mean, I think he's, flat out wrong in doing things like voting against the voting rights bill. I think he's flat out wrong and not understanding the necessity for something like bill back better or investing in infrastructure or extending the child tax credit. I don't, I don't, I can't wrap my head around somebody who was black and supports Donald Trump. Um, but I, you know, I believe that's his conviction. I don't think that he is, um, someone who is as adiaphyas or has no backbone as

as, as some of the others. that from you, someone who's had to work to make deals, as a real world politician, you're something more than a pundit, right? You've done this work before. What's the difference between somebody who's wrong and someone who's your enemy? I mean, that's a good question. I think, and it's funny because I was just having this conversation with one of our other mutual friends today.

I dare not mention his name. I think those individuals who are your enemy are set out to are set out to do you and your community wrong, right? I think there is also a pot of folk who may not be set out to do you and your community wrong, but they sit idly by while individuals do you and your community wrong. You know, for me, if we had to cut a deal with someone like Tim Scott on an issue that we care about, like criminal justice reform. If there was any space for us to cut a deal,

you think it would be that. Because he had those interactions with law enforcement, because he's a black man in America, because he's still a United States senator and there are people who still don't believe that. But, you know, when you're talking about Tim critically and you can't even make that deal with him on this, you know, I think that relationship may be lost.

I don't, you know, if I'm out here trying to identify people who I'm going to bring on board for, any type of compromise, it wouldn't be Tim Scott. I mean, I would go to some, even on Black East East, I go to Murkowski or Collins, I go to Mitt Romney. I mean, there's a long list of people I go to before Tim Scott. Do you think, I mean, we just saw that the John Lewis Voting Rights Act did not pass in the Senate. Do you think that we will ever see this act passed? And if and if so, what will it take? I think you're going to see a whole lot of bad before you see. see any good.

Whose boyfriend is that? I guess my boyfriend in the background. It's mine. It's mine. That's my. That's how I did. It's my fault. This guy.

This guy, if you don't get your ass back into politics with your slippery, like good nature demeanor and go ahead and march to us at White House, we need this. Like, I just think, I just think that I think Republicans are going after the whole hog. And some of y'all, you know, when you down south, you know, there's a saying, you know, the whole hog. I mean, that's what they, they're about to get rid of affirmative action. That's going to be kaput shortly. They already gutted the Voting Rights Act. John Roberts did that

years ago and you're not, you know, getting closer to that is going to be fleeting. You're, I mean, you just have so many, it's like, it's like they're coming after you. in every way possible. And you just have to, you have to be understanding that for the next 10, 20 years, this is going to be a difficult existence for us all. I don't think that the Voting Rights Act will pass. I think they'll pass some type of electoral protection act. And that, just for your listeners, only deals with the way that we count electors

so that what happened on January 6th can't happen again. it was the act was passed when in 1890 something I don't know you have to get one of those constitutional scholars on to talk about it and it's really poorly written so the way that the slate of electors are actually voted on is sloppy and it was sloppily written so they'll reform that but that has nothing to do with your access to the ballot box and I don't think it'll ever change that so I'm going to get to another very direct question for the listeners after I ask you this one very human question Baccar, if I was reading your body language right now, you seem like you're in pain discussing this. You seem stressed and like, I wouldn't be very hopeful if I, just listen to you talk about this. I mean, he sets into 20 years.

Yeah. It's not a hopeful. I mean, it's not a hopeful outlook. It's not a rosy outlook. It's a very real outlook. You know, I go back and my critique of Biden, but also understanding that one of the larger impediments is Manchin and Cinema, and you think about King,

and King talked about the fact that the white moderate was a greater impediment to Negro's freedom than the white citizens counselor or the Ku Klux Klanter because they want to preserve order. over justice and you you see that cinema and mansion falls squarely in that. And then you go a little further left where you have, you know, DeSantis in Florida, you have the Tom Cotton's of the world. And you have a Supreme Court at the 6-3 right now. And so whether or not it's getting overturning Roe v. Wade or getting rid of affirmative

action or gutting the Voting Rights Act. I mean, the pain I think that you see or the angst is because I fundamentally like both you all understand the price that was paid to get this far. And, you know, I think that we saw the change begin to happen around 2008. And with the election of Barack Obama, because you saw this country begin overcorrect because there was a black man in the White House. And you saw the convergence and the emergence of a Tea Party. And you saw, you know, the the head of racism kind of just, you know, rear its ugly head or racism, it's ugly head.

Here we are. And, you know, you talk about the racial violence is one thing. The Charleston Massacre, Charlott's Fittles, January 6th, that's one thing. But then you talk about just the kind of tangential pressure put on people of color in this country through the laws and policies we pass. I think that's the body language you see. And I'm not sure I don't see. I don't see how we get out of it at this moment.

I guess my question is this. We've heard about a lot of things. We've heard about obviously the filibuster. And I do want you to just break down for people how filibuster reform or like how what the mechanism is that. So people understand what would it mean to get rid of the filibuster, why there's hesitancy to get rid of the filibuster. I do want to just ask you directly about the filibuster. But before I ask you that, maybe this is the same answer.

Do the Democrats have a nuclear option? Always. You have the option, but you have to have enough people to pull the trigger. The filibuster's been around for a very, very long period of time, which prevents, you know, just the minority voices from being overrun, and it requires a 60 vote threshold to pass many pieces of legislation. The nuclear option began to be, it was actually first, the trigger first pulled in recent history and modern history when you come to talk about it by

the nuclear option, but the late Senator Harry Reid was one who made it who made it more more more sexy and popular. It was done to pass a bunch of Obama judges who were being otherwise. You know, they weren't doing anything for Barack Obama. And so that's why the nuclear option was cool. You know, the filibuster is a relic of the past. And when you go through and in a racist past, when you go through and look at the filibuster and look at what it was utilized to stop from happening, a bunch of civil rights voting legislation that it was used to prevent. Now, I'm not asking to abolish the filibuster at all, actually. I'm actually asking them just to limit the scope of it and do a carve-out so we can pass.

voting rights. And people are like a carve-out, when have we done a carve-out in American history? We just did it a couple of weeks ago to raise the debt limit. You know, Mitch McConnell has carved out things to get rid of the filibuster to pass, not one, not two, but three Supreme Court justices, right? So there have been carve-outs before, and there have been carve-outs that Manchin and Cinema have voted for. When people ask the question, and this is, you know, Mention and Sinema, their argument would be if we get rid of the filibuster whenever Republicans are in, are in the power. They abuse of the news. They can do things like make abortion illegal in all 50 states, et cetera.

I don't necessarily buy that, but that's the argument. So why couldn't we carve this out for the Voting Rights Act? Why couldn't there be a carve out? Well, they couldn't be a carve out because you only have 48 votes for. Montana and Cinema would not vote for it. And so you have 48 votes for it. And, you know, it was, we've gone down that path before. And the reasoning that they won't is somewhat lost on me.

I'm not, no one has been able to give me a clear answer as to why. And they aren't able to give you a clear answer as to why. Both of them tell you, and I believe them that they would vote for the John Lewis, the John Lewis voting rights bail. Who fucking cares? Like, who fucking gives us shit? You just piss me off, nigga. Like, who like, like, who fucking cares if you would vote for it after the fact if you're not willing to?

Because they think it makes them sound better. That's the politics of it. And that's why people hate politics because, you know, people are able to say, oh, I support John Lewis is a hero of mine. I support the John Lewis voting rights bill. And then you're like, okay, well, that's what we're. vote for it. And they're like, well, no, I want to preserve the filibuster more than this. And you're like, wait a minute, that doesn't. John Lewis doesn't stand for any of that, or the king quotes that

people come out with. Yes. I mean, it's obscene. It's intellectually dishonest at best. So cinema's been censured by the Democratic Party in her state. Do you think that that, well, obviously that really doesn't do much, but do you think that that will put any kind of pressure on her or maybe make other moderates like that take notice. Okay, you're shaking your head, but I definitely want you to explain to take notice. Most of the moderates in the Democratic Party came around. I mean, Mark Kelly, her colleague in Arizona, John Tester, who is the center of the party came around.

Mark Warner, Virginia came around. Chris Coons, Delaware came around. So there were about four, five, six of them that are considered, that are considered to be moderates who came around just mansion and cinema with it. And I think that, you know, there is word out there. And I don't know why she would think this, but there is word that Kirsten Cinema wants to run for president of the United States. But the thing about that is, it's hard to run for president of the United States when you

have no constituency. Like, who's going to support you? I mean, literally nobody out there looking to vote for somebody like Kirsten's cinema. Okay. So this is my last question for you. What do we do? That was going to be my last question. I mean, very, look, so that sounds like a very, a very simple question.

But let's turn, fucking a year ago, two years ago at this time, it was get out and vote. That's what you do. What you can do is get out of the vote. Primaries are going on, whatever was happening. We get out and vote. it got down to Biden. Stacey got us going. Like we got out there.

We did it. We did it. We did it three times. We did it for Biden. We did it for Warnock. We did it for Asov. We did it more than that. We got out and voted.

Now it is 2022. There are midterm elections happening this fall. There's a presidential election happening in the next couple of years. For the average American citizen who is looking to be able to be a part of a political movement that might stem the tide a little bit. What do we do? First of all, I think that, and this would be my best advice, and I've given it before, they're about three things.

The first is we have to realize that the change we want to see in our communities doesn't come from 1,600 Pennsylvania and doesn't come from the capital. It comes locally from your school boards, your city halls, your county councils, your city councils, et cetera. And I think that all of you all need to make sure that you're watching what's happening around you on the local level. Your DAs, your solicitors, your judges. I mean, this is really where change happens. This is where rubber meets the road.

So that's first. And you should always, you should always be active in that. Number two, there are good ones that you should support. Like one of the, like I named two people right now who have just blown my mind in terms of their effectiveness. that's Amy Klobuchar and Raphael Warnock. Raphael Warnock is a G. I need to get him on the show. And let me know if I can help you do that.

Oh, for sure, of course, yeah. Raphael Warnock has proven himself to be capable. He's dope. If you go back and listen to his floor speech and voting rights, you know, he is one of us. He went to Mornos. He good dude. You know, he speaks the language.

He can get you going. And then he goes and he speaks that same truth. But you don't have to worry about him kind of tip-torn around. He actually speaks it. So you got to support those individuals who are doing the work. And number three, you know, just because the work doesn't stop when you vote for somebody, right? Just because you cast a ballot. I mean, you still got to hold these folk accountable.

And so people always ask me, they say, well, you're critical of the Biden administration. I'm like, I know because they got my vote. They got the most powerful thing I can do in this country. So why would I not be critical or constructively critical of somebody who I gave the most powerful thing I own to them? And so I keep saying, like, on voting rights. You need to do something at an executive level. Do an executive order. Let's test the boundaries of what you can do.

Let's make sure your Department of Justice is out there in these states that are passing regressive laws that are making people do 10 jumping jacks and all this other craziness, whatever. That was an exaggeration before people get all their money in. You know, make sure your Department of Justice is fighting those battles. What are you doing on executive order on policing since we can't, since we can't pass a George Floyd Justice and Policing Act? do something because what happens, Van, and this is what pitted me off, is that, like, around August, they're going to reach out to me, and they're going to be like, Bacari, we need you to do these 10 podcasts. We need you to go on these radio shows. We need you to go to these barbershops, go to these HBCUs, and get these black folk coming out here.

We want them to come, register them to vote, make sure they vote. And what you want me to tell them? Like, what you want me to, because what happens, particularly with Democrats, and they don't want to hear this or we don't want to hear this, is that people don't want to hear shit about Donald Trump no more. Don't nobody care about him. I mean, running against him, running against him, don't do nobody laughing. People want to know, what did you do for them?

And again, there's this huge disconnect between pain that black folk feel in the streets in this administration. And they have, they've only been in office for a year, right? So some of that smoke is unwarranted. however, you know, it's okay to raise that flag and raise that along. Baccarus Sellers. Oh, by the way, I want to mention something. My favorite book that I keep telling you guys about the sword and the shield by Dr.

Poneal Joseph. It's a dope book. It's an amazing book. Love the book. I read the book. And I'm reading the book. You know, I'm reading the book. In the book, it's saying Dr. King and Malcolm X, they went and they talk to the kids from SNCC.

and they were taught to kids like Cleveland Sellers. And I'm like, that's fucking Bacari's dad. And it's like Cleveland Sellers and Stokely Carmichael and Ella Baker and all of these people. And I'm thinking, Jesus Christ, that's McCarrey's dad. So I just want to say, I've never had the opportunity or the pleasure to meet your father. but man, that that's insane. If you guys don't know what Snick is or I would hope that if you're listening to the podcast, you know what Snick is.

But I just want to say shout out to Cleveland Sellers, man. I really do. Shout out to Cleveland Sellers. Right now as we're taping, he's probably finishing up his daily walkie takes. I do have a, it's funny, though, because I tell this joke all the time. I don't think people find it funny, but Dr. King, I always tell people, Dr. King was not a perfect man by any stretch. In fact, Dr. King performed my daddy's first marriage, and that thing lasted about six months. That's hilarious, actually. So they were really, they were really, really close.

Right. So that's what so. All right. Tell us about your book. Wait, you have a new, you have a new book. I do have a new book. On the New York Times bestsellers list, tell us about it. We're number four in the New York Times bestsellers list. Who are your people? Go pick it up. It's a great book. They're trying to keep it out of schools, which is weird. enough, but, you know, it talks about our, our history. It's a picture book, man. It's for four to eight year olds.

So make sure you go pick up a few copies of it, man. Who are your people in bookstores everywhere? Books or so. All right, my man. They're trying to keep it out of Texas, schools in Texas? Every school, all of them. All of them? All of them.

I'm about to go personally deliver this to Texas. It's a car, right? We appreciate you, my brother. All right, what's up, Donnie? All right, guys. All right, guys, I'll be safe. This episode is brought to by. Paramount Plus, Beth and Rip are back in a new series. Dutton Ranch. Kelly Riley and

Colehouser returned, and this time they're taking on Texas. As Beth and Rip build a future together, peace will have to wait as they face corruption, danger, and a ruthless rival ranch, willing to protect its secrets at all costs. Legacy is a beautiful thing, but only if it survives. Dutton Ranch starring Colehouser, Kelly Riley, Annette Benning and Ed Harris, now streaming on Paramount Plus. This episode is brought to you by two. Too good and company coffee creamers. Howdy take your coffee, piping hot, ice, strong, frothy. But if you love rich, creamy goodness and delicious flavor in every sip,

try two good and company creamers. They're made with farm fresh cream and real milk. Each serving has just three grams of sugar, 40% less than the leading coffee creamers. Two good creamers are available in sweet cream, roasted vanilla, and lavender. So which one are you trying first? Find two good creamers at your local retailer and the creamer. all right great interview in Bacari good

Baccarry should he should he should he does he he likes here's the thing about Baccarre Baccarri loves loves

loves the spotlight oh he loves the spotlight we need Baccarre to get back in politics that's a question we should have asked him would he is there

if he wants to okay I'm sure he will I'm just joking around with him He's got his hands in so many things He's done so much good work I'm just joking with him But he's just every time I talk to him Like god damn I will vote for this nigga

I would move to South Carolina Just to vote for him The guys just Calm down Okay All right He's my friend Rachel It's my friend

Um Okay Did you see what happened This weekend with Ari Lennox Did you see him? I did Are you Linux is staying in the news It was like every week.

It's something about Ari. She can't catch a break. Like leave Ari alone. Yeah, leave Ari alone. Okay, so look, we're going to have a conversation. Ari Lennox is the homie. Love Ari Lennox. Love her music.

She has one of the most beautiful, distinct voices that is out there. Love the whole dream of a family. Love all of these people. We're going to have a conversation here. We're going to open a nuanced conversation about what went down. Okay. So Ari Lennox was doing an interview with a

guy called Mac G the name of his podcast is podcast and chill he is from South Africa and right in the beginning of the interview he asked her a question that she felt like was a little bit too

invasive. Let's run the clip so you guys can hear what MacG asked Ari Lennox and we had right now is someone fucking you good right now? Oh my God! Whoa there. I'm not having, well, that's a wild question.

Why that way? Why that way? Why ask it that way? Whoa. Because that's what you say in the song, you know what I mean? I love that part. What did I say that? I said on the song? Yeah, don't you remember the song? I do, but I don't know if I don't, I didn't, I didn't,

oh, I guess I did say that. I did say that. Let me, um, okay, you just threw, you caught me off guard. You caught me off guard there, but I did say that. Okay, so they went on and they had an interview. They talked about all kinds of things. The interview, like, when I first was looking for it, I didn't realize it was at the beginning of the interview.

I didn't know that either until you just set that to me. So when I was looking forward in the clip, they were having such an amicable conversation during times that I was watching it. I thought it had to come at the end. And then when the interview ended, I'm like, well, where did you do this? He did it right at the beginning. Okay. So this has caused like a.

a little many debate. Obviously, Ari didn't appreciate that. She said she's not doing any interviews anymore, which is unfortunate because she is such a delight to interview. I love listening to her talk. She's such a delight to interview. She's very inquisitive and she's always got great answers. She's very insightful.

But she went to Twitter. She says, I'm just like, why was I alone on the call for those people? Why did anyone intervene? Why wasn't parts of the interview destroyed like the team promised? That's something I'm going to come back to. Why did it happen to begin with? I just feel slow and ambushed and blindsided

but fuck it I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me I'm tired of the narrative exhausted I'm good I promise but as far as interviews I'm not doing it anymore there's enough lives and interviews out there already she said just because I happily and freely seeing and write about sex don't

make any type of creepy disrespect warranted I clearly was in immense shock and hate that I didn't react differently okay so do you feel like that question was creepy and unwarranted. Absolutely.

Do you want me? I don't know if you had another question or you want me to explain that. Explain it because I'm going to offer another side of it. Sure. You have to look at the question in its totality, right? Okay. And one, he's asking her a very intrusive and personal question.

Just because she's saying about it doesn't require you to ask her specifically that question. Two, he's supposed to be a journalist, we'll say a media personality. The fact that he couldn't pick up on the context clues that she was uncomfortable by that is troubling. It sounds like afterwards there was a conversation as well about removing that part of the interview because she didn't like the way that went. And as an interviewer, I think you should respect the interviewee.

Just respect the whole business of it all. And the last thing is the timing of him asking. that question. You are setting the entire tone for this interview by asking a very click-baited question that is potentially disrespectful. Just because someone writes about it, sings about, it talks about it, doesn't give you, that's them having the power over their words and their feelings. It doesn't give you the opportunity to just flat out ask the question in that way, especially a man coming from a woman. It also might have been different if it was woman to woman. But just you could have asked her about her relationship, about her personal life, about her

sex life even, without phrasing it in such a grotesque way. So I think if you look at all of those factors together, it's extremely inappropriate. Okay. I agree with you. Because the way I look at it is it's inappropriate. She says it's inappropriate, right? She says it's inappropriate. She is like the energy that came out. It's inappropriate. Bobby Spurter had the song out, Hot Digger, right? And people talk about, yeah, you're doing it right now.

People talk about, people act like Bobby just started dancing. Bobby was doing a little shimmy day. Bobby Ben dancing. But it's all hot digger. I think the thing that raised the most eyebrows to me when I was listening to that as like a 34, 35-year-old guy, whatever I was when that came out. Bobby says in that song,

I've been selling cracks since like the fifth grade. Every time I would hear that, a part of my soul would die. It's kids everywhere going, I've been selling cracks since like the fifth grade, which is a very serious thing to say. Let's say I'm in an interview with Bobby Smurter, and I go,

yo man, you've really been selling cracks since like the fifth grade? And then Bobby Smurter goes, well, that's something. really personal to ask me about, man, that's about my home life, my whatever, whatever. Is it, what I'm saying is, if you're a MacG, isn't there, because people are, obviously, it was inappropriate, he should have apologized, and if her team went out, he should have taken it

out. But is it unfair to assume that he can ask her about something that she put in the song? It's the way you ask the question. It's not that, it's not that the topic of sex was off limits. She talks about sex a lot in songs. But it's the way that he asked it that was disrespectful. And I think that's how you have to look at it. Also, in rap, talking about, you know, we talk, we had this conversation.

Violence, drugs is seen as a form of, like, credibility. It seems as seen as like, I guess, cool. Or, you know what I mean? Like, it's appropriate. Oh, talking about sex is seen as credibility. cool in songs as well. But here's the thing. He passed her specifically who she's fucking.

Well, she says that. He asks her a direct line in the song. But is she, I guess I have to hear how she sings it. Because when he said that, I was like, does she say? What song does she say that in? Like I was like, which, which one? I need to hear how she says it. Because is she asking the question or she's saying who she's fucking?

Because there's a difference, right? He said a fact. I've been selling cracks since the fifth. Gray. Did she say I'm fucking so and so so and so and so. He said, he said, well, well, he's, what she says, hold on. Hold on. Let's look, let's look at the song lyric itself. Yeah. By the way, totally team R are here.

No, I know. I know. I know. I just want to make sure that like, hold on, let me look up the. Ari Lennox. So the song is called Pussy. So if I pop this pussy for you tonight. It's a, the, hold on. It's so much dirtier when you just read it. if I pop this pussy for you tonight won't you promise that I'm going to be your wife which seems like you know

Okay so she's like And after she's like If you really love me I'll fuck you good And then she says it over and over again She's like I'll treat you how you should Okay Never did she give

It's totally different MacG's MacG's all fucked up MacG I try to I try to be I tried to be white devil's advocate MacG but nah If you really love

me I'll fuck you good. She doesn't say anything about impersonal who she's you know what I mean like who she's fucking it was and to say it off the bat it's like bro like he did it She really didn't even say it yeah

that's why she was like did I say that? Did I say that? Not really MacGie why you treat why you treat her like that man and he kept laughing that's when it became creepy she's like what and he's like doing this creepy laugh and it's like bruh that's all that was on his mind.

It ended up becoming like a like a like a South Africa versus the United States. Do you see that? It started to become like it started to become like the U.S. can't, the U.S. can't get mad at MacG when they have Charlamandah God saying stuff like this. They started. Wow. Wow. But I don't think that it's it was problematic for him to ask her about sex.

I think it's the way he. raised it that was extremely disrespectful. And the moment you saw that she was uncomfortable with it, that's when you either apologize or you move on or ask her if she wants to remove that part of the conversation. It's like, man, how often have you interviewed someone where you're like, hey, do you are you comfortable with me asking this? You want me to remove this? You know what I mean?

Well, I would never in an interview. Like, see, my tactic as an interviewer is I go where you go. I remember I was interviewing, I was interviewing, I was interviewing. Evelyn Lazada and Shawnee O'Neill and they started talking about anal sex so I started talking about anal sex. Sure. But I'm never going to bring up anal sex

to them. MacG one. MacG is out there in this bitch. MacG got what he wanted. Well, our show comes out annually. Okay, well, since you brought up anal sex, that's literally what Matt, like, that's how he did. Okay.

So look. here's the reality the cops are crooked here's the reality the cops are crooked NYC judge has dismissed over 100 felony convictions tied to an ex-NYPD detective charged with perjury

100 people it shows you the unbelievable ripple effect that one individual who wears a shield can have on the lives of hundreds of thousands overturning a wrongful conviction is not a substitute for justice because the damage has already been done. Filing a lawsuit against the NYPD and receiving financial reparations for that is a step towards justice.

Will America ever listen to the cries of people who are telling them that policing is broken, broken in a way that needs either complete repair or complete destruction? Will we ever be able to make that point? No. Because they'll look at this as that was just one bad apple. The majority of the force is good. Or they'll bring up an instance where the police did something where they, you know, like did a sweep or did something or like, you know, like took a bunch of people or criminals off the street or captured somebody that was, you know, wanted high profile.

They'll use that to bolster their argument that this is why police are good. and nothing should be changed. This guy was the exception. That's how they'll look at it. So I don't see it ever happening. But what I will say is the way you can, the way the narrative has to change is not just finding that this guy committed perjury, but it takes a prosecutor and a DA's office to say,

well, we're going to now say, you know what? We're going to go find all his cases. And we're going to make sure that we're going to dismiss these. We're going to present these to a judge that these cases should be dismissed because the person who was a part of them who was a key witness or who arrested them was corrupt. That's what's going to have to take. And it just immediately made me think of what's happening in, you know, your neck of the woods, right? That is what needs to happen. You need to have a prosecution team or a DA's office say, hey, this person, it's like a ripple effect. And they,

were, if they think this way, then every case that they've been involved with has been tainted. And how can you say that the person had a fair trial when the person that was involved thought this way or acts this way? Independent citizen-based oversight of police forces. Independent citizen-based oversight. There are some places that have this, the degree to which it's successful, is kind of up in the air, but I think it can be more successful.

And I'll tell you why. You defund police, right? When I say defund, let's not use that term anymore. You divert money from police budgets to places where justice commissions can be established and funded to have independent citizen oversight of the police. Any police officer,

I'm talking about on a grand scale, almost the federalization of it. Any police officer that is really out to protect and serve citizens should have no problem at all working with citizens to ensure that policing is free of bias, as free of bias and corruption as it can be. I don't understand why they always balk at the idea of giving us, letting us be proactive in policing ourselves and policing the police. You know, to me, to me, I think that if you had situations like this, you could stop stuff

like this. Now, the reality is that these guys are going to lose, these men and women, I'm assuming, are going to lose years and years out of their life that they can't get back because of this stuff. I'm telling you, citizens, independent citizen oversight. It's been done a couple of places, but there are answers to these questions, but they just need to be funded and they need to be made as much of a priority as the police are. People understand that the police is a priority. I'm tired of going back and forth with them. But what are the other priorities? that we have. One of them has to be

like ensuring that police are doing their jobs in a way that actually enforces the rights of Americans. So I'm, come on, man. But also, we got to keep talking about this because how many people won't know this story?

You know what I mean? It's very true. You can put it out there. That's very true. Oh, I have a question to ask you before I get to Van's very serious question. Okay, so a friend of mine, his name is Kenny Hamilton.

Shout out to Kenny Kennedy Hamilton Cany Hamilton's doing this thing You know Kenny Kenny, Kenny's doing this fucking thing out here in these streets Kenny's the man Be honest with me

Kenny's the man Kenny's the fucking man Kenny's the fucking man Kenny Hamilton Kenny Hamilton hits me up Me and him are going to work He's got an amazing artist named Dixon

Dixon That uh Dixon yeah Yeah I don't know if you said Dixie or Dixon You by the way You you you pronounce prosecutor weirdly

You said it again. You said. Prosecutor? No, you, that's not how you say it. Prosecution is what I said. I said, prosecutor. You said it weird.

Like, we'll run it back. Prosecutor. Prosecutor. Prosecutor. Everybody go back and listen to how Rachel say, how did you say it? How did you say it?

I can't remember. You say it. I remember in the moment, like you said prosecutor. I was like, why she said it that way? Prosecutor. Prosecutor. That's how you. Oh, hold on.

See that second way? Prosecutor. I'm emphasizing the wrong part. The Q. Yeah. Like, like you. Prosecutor. Yeah.

Okay. No. That's regular. Prosecutor. Like you said it, the Q. Why are you all on the Q? Because you're Delta. Okay.

But no. So Kenny Hamilton reached out to me. Let me go back to this, too. This, this situation. Kenny, who I talked to, we're going to do some work together. Me and Kenny building some shit. and he put me in contact with a woman named Tamika Hamilton. I don't think there's any relation there,

but she is a Republican who is running for office, candidate for Congress, California, District 6, okay? All of that stuff. She is supposed to be, I don't know much about her. I've only read some of her tweets. She is supposed to be what Kenny says She's a Republican that's not one of, she's not a crazy Republican that we would think of.

I don't know if she's moderate or not. Apparently she's somebody that you can talk to. Would you be open to having her on the podcast? What is she running for? She's running for Congress, California, and the 6th District. Okay, so local or state Congress? Yeah, she's running for Congress. She was in the military.

She's the number of five. No, I know, but it's like not U.S. It's a state. It's a state Congress. I guess so, yeah, state Congress. She's, she's, she's, uh, can I do some more research before we bring somebody on? Now, see, why would we need to do more research? I kind of want to know who I'm talking to.

Oh, well, we have to do more research, but is it because, is it because she's a conservative that we have to do more research? Well, I just wanted, I mean, it's, what if she says something wilds and we're using our podcast and giving her a platform to spew out? We just come back at her. Fine. We just come back at her. We don't need to. We'll trust Kenny. We'll bring her on.

Well, no. If you don't want to have her own. No, no. I didn't say no. I just asked for her. No, fine. Bring her on. You're right.

We were saying we were going to bring somebody that was conservative on anyway. Let's bring her on. So Kenny backs her. Kenny, Kenny was a fan. Okay. But Kenny also,

I don't know where Kenny's politics are. Kenny like owns Delilah or something like that. He doesn't own Delilah. Is he a part of the H-wood group? He owns. He owns. he owns a part, like he owns all kinds of different shit. Like he, he, he owns a ton of shit.

He's part of the H Wood group. Yeah. So, hold on. This is great. I need an invite into the party for Super Bowl. So let's do Kenny a favor. I'm definitely not going to that shit. I got the answer bodies.

I'm good. That shit, that shit is the Arboron Super Bowl. I could go, I can't get you. But that shit is the Albuqueron Super Bowl. I might have some people in town. I might see if I can. go though because those people might be all excited. It's a playerproof clue coming to town?

Nah, them niggas not coming. They might be mad at me. So look, this is what Tamika's tweets. The reason Joe Rogan has the biggest audience in America right now isn't because people agree with everything that he says. People just want to hear discourse and discussions without the filter and constant bickering of cable news. America just wants to dialogue again.

What do you think about that tweet? I don't think she's wrong. I think that he's polarizing in the same way that it's. people for sports want to go to hear what Stephen A. Smith has to say because they know it's going to be entertaining and a little bit jarring sometimes. I think that's the effect that Joe Rogan has. Like you know, you never know what you're going to get. But you know it's going to be it's probably going to be a little controversial. And he generates conversation. Sure. I don't think that it's a wild tweet from her. I'm looking at some of the other

tweets. I think it's a, I think it's, I think it actually, whatever, we'll see. We'll see. We'll see. We'll talk to it. We'll bring her on. Yeah. Okay. Van's very serious question of the week. We are both black people, but we're also African Americans. I saw this on the Twitter on Reddit. For you, would you rather be called, would this refer to you ethically? black or African-American and why? So I always say black. Okay, let me think about this. I definitely always say black.

That's for sure. I'm more so thinking about the why. When I hear African-American, it sounds like a census term to me. It sounds like a politically correct term, especially in light of what we talked about in the last podcast where Mitch McConnell doesn't even see us as American. It's like, I'd rather just be black. And I think black, because black, too, is all encompassing.

It's not just a box that you check on a census. It's not just a term that you take us. People love to say African American because they think that it makes me feel more comfortable as if I feel uncomfortable being called black. Like, I'm very proud to be black. I always define myself as a black woman. And again, And it doesn't just, when I say black, I feel like I feel more connected to the black experience in the world rather than just saying that I'm an African American and I'm just a part of this country.

I just feel more connected to my people when I identify as black. I also think that it's interesting for the people who don't want to be called black because then the question is why. Do you find the term offensive? Do you find the term like I don't I don't understand. I don't understand. I can't even say why because I don't understand people who are offended by being called black. That's a question you would have to ask them. But I'm proud to be black. I like being defined that way. I think that there's pride and there's a history in it, you know, as the term towards us has changed over time in this country. To me, black is something that I'm comfortable with and I don't know what defines who I am. Huh.

Okay. I'll also go for black. I got to be honest with you. African-American sounds condescending to me. It's politically correct. Whatever that means. It's, it's almost like,

yeah, Bose was doing this thing back there because he's black too. It's, it's almost as if, it's almost as if if you respected by blackness, you would need to call me

an African-American. Yeah. African American is you trying to like African American is you trying to show deference to me. Oh, we recognize that you're an African American, that you know, your long history. How about you recognize and value my blackness? Recognize and value my blackness, the blackness that we've sacrificed for and gone through shit for. created in the face of all of that, you would need to call me like a fancy term.

And I get it, I get it that African American was part of a movement for people to reconnect with their African roots. But now we understand something is that we all black. And black itself, the term black itself doesn't have the best origins. I wish that I could just refer to myself as a Louisianaian or a Baturujian or a Nigerian, which is where the little thing says I come from.

Oh, you do DNA test? I thought you were a king's dad. I was, but I thought, you know, after dad, I kind of went through this little phase where I wanted to figure out, you know, the me's and the whys or whatever. And look, the government having my DNA is not a big deal. The government knows everything about me, right? I'm more concerned if they get, you know, the browser history than I am if they get the DNA.

Ted. But, but, but, but no, so it's like, you know, I wish that they I wish that they respected me enough to respect my blackness. My blackness is what America. The blackness is what America needs to reconcile with. The blackness. And you can't do that by calling me African American.

Don't you feel like people are afraid to say black? Like they think they're doing you a favor or it's watering down your blackness when they're like African American. I almost find it more offensive. I usually correct people I'm like black. Like they're almost uncomfortable saying black. Donnie pop on. Donnie has a question.

I think it's a good question. Yeah. What about if someone were to put the S on the end of black, referring to as the black. It depends how it's used. I love the blacks. Okay. So here's a deal.

Let me tell me my problem with that. It's the the thought. My problem with that is that that right there, that gives all. a sort of familiarity and an intimacy that you don't have. So like I can say that. I can say that's some black shit. I can say that's a whatever shit.

You need to humanize me when you speak to me because we're to that. Because that's the level of trust we have for one another. So when you speak to me, you need to humanize me. So what you need to say is black people. Yeah. You don't have to say African American people. You don't have to say African Americans. You can say black, but you have to say black people.

All right? because I don't trust that you think I'm a person. I have no reason. So if I'm talking to Rachel, me and Rachel can be like, yeah, that's some black shit. Miss me with that. Black shit. Rachel can say that. I can say that.

You know what I mean? But if you're white and you're talking to me, you sing the blacks or blacks feel this way or blacks feel that way. Nah, you don't get that privilege. You haven't earned that privilege to lump us together like that. You need to humanize the people in that. So that's how I feel. Why do you think some white people are? uncomfortable saying black and feel and it makes them more comfortable saying African

American they should be they should be uncomfortable you're like but the reason why they're uncomfortable is probably because of the fact it's it's the same reason why you're uncomfortable anytime you've been doing some shit you ain't had no business been doing and you come into a situation where everyone knows what the fuck you did and now you don't know how to fucking fix it right it's the same reason that's why they're uncomfortable because they don't know and they ain't supposed to know. They ain't supposed to know because it hasn't been long enough when everybody's been cool.

If it's long enough and everybody's been really cool, then we can take some chances. But guess what? We're not fucking there yet. They try to stop us from voting. They try to stop. They try to make sure that the police keep kicking us in our ass. Black people.

As a matter of fact, don't even call me Black. Don't even call it. Mr. Black people. Mrs. Black people. No. King. Queen. like at least a Duke

you know what I mean like or something like that like fucking stand up straight white America you can call me black I don't like when people ask me which one I prefer call me black okay maybe maybe that's what some other people in

Bachelor Nation I know we have a lot of Bachelors people who say prefer to be called call me black I know what they call black people in Bachelor Nation what they call that's what they call that's what they call that's what Bachelor Nation That's what bachelor Nation calls I didn't even get a chance

to say what do they call us I called them niggas Fasional nation is fucking something else No they're no they call them color That's that color Colored folk It has been told to me On multiple occasion

that there were people who lived in the house in very recent seasons who were referring to black people as colored Yeah Citi said Batch God damn

batch. Batches. Batch is something else. Batch shit crazy. All right. Batch shit crazy. Yeah. Was that what you said? Yeah. Batch. Yeah. I did. All right. We're out of here. That is enough for us. I am Van Lathen. Take your thing caps off. We do not stop learning. Thank you to our producers, Donnie Beecham, and Trudy Joseph. And thank you for Bukary Sells for joining us today.

Absolutely. And I am. Rachel Lynn Lindsay. You guys go get, miss me with that. If you haven't already, it's out now. Order it for somebody else. I think you guys will really enjoy it. If you are listening to this. And thank you for supporting if you already have.

And you want me to follow you on social media. I will follow you. Oh, that's the key. If you provide proof that you bought, miss me with that. I'll follow you. I'll follow you. If you provide proof that you bought it, that should get you 10 book sales right there.

Bye bye, yeah. Bye.