Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - John Lewis’s Funeral and How Bill Clinton Alienated Himself From the Culture

Episode Date: July 31, 2020

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss Bill Clinton’s problematic comments at John Lewis’s funeral (10:41), the viral video featuring Stella Immanuel (26:29), an important listener question about dealing with family members who might not understand you (49:20), and the Dascha Polanco situation (1:00:02), before giving out their unexpected allies of the week awards (1:25:37). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yo, yo, yo, yo. Welcome to higher learning thought warriors. I am Van Lathen. I am Rachel Lindsay. What's up, man? Man, I got to check. How are you doing? I heard there was an earthquake today in L.A.

Sounds like I got out just in time. By the way, this is not funny. This is not funny. I had a panic attack last night. Seriously, in a real way. Wait, didn't it happen this morning? There were two? I can't.

Well, there actually, there were two. for sure. Oh, wow. But one is I'm in the bed and, you know, I feel the bed shaking, but you never know what's going on. Maybe it's time to get it. You know what I'm saying?

It's the middle of the night. Maybe she wants to, you know what I'm saying? Keep on the story. Okay. But I feel the bed shaking and then I wake up and then it's swaying a little bit. It sways. It's just swaying.

But then all of a sudden, it just rocks. You know what I mean? It just rocked. And I'm like, and I actually, and like my heart starts beating fast and blah, blah, blah. It took me a while to get back to sleep. I've never been scared by our earthquake before, but I normally sleep through them. But this one was, this one was actually bad. It was actually not bad, but it was jarring.

It was a little one, but it was jarring. Well, because explain to people, because for me, you know, I've never really been in an earthquake. And so I have like that Will Smith reaction, like the ground move. What's supposed to stay still moved? You know, if you're not used to it, you don't know. So is it, there's a difference, right? There's some that shake and then there's some that roll. Right?

Like they, no, you don't know. Okay, okay. I don't know. I mean, you sounds like, I mean, I don't, I don't really, I guess this one shook and roll. It was a little, because there was a little, it was like swinging back. And then it was, it shook real hard. And the real hard shake is kind of what lets you know that it could be fucked up. Because like, think about it.

At this particular point, my brain has time to go, you know, this would be the year. Right. No. Right. You know, this would be the year. But yeah, definitely, and then a little bit later on, there was another little one. I left. I took a red eye out.

So I've been back since yesterday. But I did leave a mirror on my chair. I'm pretty sure that's a wrap. It's bro. It's broken. But I'm not used to it. You know what I mean? Like it's like a lesson learned.

But when you're not used to earthquakes, it's just like you're just not prepared for that kind of stuff. Like now I'm, it's dangerous. Yeah. Well, here's the, I've been here for like 14 years and it hasn't really been very much.

Like the earthquake stuff, it's, it's scarier to us people from the South. Look at the concern look that you have on your face. You're scared. Like, you're scared of this. Well, I'm rethinking my, this move. to L.A.

You're scared. I kid you not. While you were talking, I started thinking about the big one. And I started thinking about where is the fault, the line. And I started thinking, what part of L.A. am I in? All that was going in my head while you were just talking

right now. And that's why you saw that look. Well, I tell you what, if an earthquake comes and it's too severe, there's really nothing you can do about it. Like, there's nothing. It's one of the natural disasters where if it happens and it's too big of an earthquake, if that big earthquake ever comes. We're talking about that nine, that 10. Well, nine or 10 would be

cataclysmic, but we're talking about even like a seven, seven point five. If that comes, I mean, come on, gee, is we done for it, done so. Now, I don't know what happens. Some people say that, you know, part of California breaks off and falls into the sea. That's what I've always heard. Well, some people say that part of California drifts off, you know, but I don't know. Lex Luthor and Superman 1 had a diabolical plan to blow up parts of L.A. Remember this? And then make all the desert into beachfront of property. You never saw Superman 1?

No, I didn't see this. You know, I didn't see this. Man, rest in peace, Christopher Reeve. Oh, speaking of it. You know who he is. Christopher Reef. Why are you fucked up with the Bachelor people right now? What happened?

We haven't done a Bachelor update in a while. And we talked about this in the pre-show, and you asked me specifically not to bring it up. but I'm you know it's me your little brother van so like why well like what what happened tell us what happened in the Bachelor nation

I feel like I might just have a panic attack because I specifically not to bring it up no I just well seriously seriously can you not talk about it you do not want to get into it there's certain things I can talk about I just you know I

I've already made headlines enough today in the and I I, this is how I feel like, yes, maybe I said some harsh words that were towards the co-the-fiance of my co-host. But I just feel like, why do I have to take the high road and respect ignorance? And it's always on me, like, Rachel, you're so wrong when let's not pretend or turn to blind eye to the things that he has done over the last few years and continue to double down on

it. I'm just calling it like it is, even if my language may be a little harsh. but don't you think his is? You know, when you're saying things that are racist and homophobic and misogynistic and, you know, talking about anti-immigration in the worst way and calling Parkland students child actors, I believe that my words were in line.

You know? Can I tell you something? Yeah. I have a lot of appreciation for you. And I mean, it's in a very serious way. I was not aware of bacheloristic things, prior to this podcast. I really wasn't.

But since we've been doing this podcast, I have, I guess been more in tune with it. I think there are more people that watch it around me than I even thought. And there's something that happens to black people specifically. I've talked to black people

in all different areas and all different walls of life. One of my brothers was an analyst on Wall straight up in New York, right? Guy had gone to Stanford, done all of these great things, and then gone to be an analyst. And he started off there and things are going really well. And then after a while, he started to tell me about how he felt isolated, how he felt like

he had to be a representative, the pressure that goes with being a black person in any single place where you're outnumbered, right? Any workplace where you're outnumbered. Most people get to do that in anonymity. but it's very difficult to like hold that down when you've been like a trailblazer or when you've been somebody who's been outspoken and kind of representing a sort of oneness and otherness in this huge huge huge huge million dollar billion dollar franchise. Yeah.

And I want to give you props for the strength that you show and having to like navigate that world. Now, I'll be honest with you, the show is a bunch of bullshit. But still, though, the societal issues that you deal with from being the only person of color to have been in that particular position and to be a black woman, that must really be hard. And I didn't really know. I didn't know until I saw all of these different things. What a big deal it really is, man. And you represent.

And, well, thank you. Thank you, Van. I want everyone to take note of this compliment. They don't come too often. So I'm going to go on to it for a second. No, but no, thank you. Thank you for saying that. It can be a lot. It's hard because I don't think people realize they're like, why everything I do be, everything I say becomes problematic. You know, it makes headlines when I say something that's I'm outspoken towards another person in Bachelorsation or something that Bachelnation is doing. But nobody talks about these same articles don't say the good things that I'm doing. They only highlight the bad. So they continue to paint me as this aggressive, angry person like right now, right now. E-News has a picture on their Instagram of the couple that I was referring to, my co-host and her fiancé, a beautiful picture of them. And at the bottom of the picture, it says, I think he's, quote, I think he's a piece of shit dash Rachel Lindsay.

And that's all it says with no context or anything. Mind you, I explained it all in the podcast, but that's all they say. So you have thousands of thousands of comments like, shut your mouth, Rachel. You're always something to say. You're just trying to be relevant. And they always post things like that and play into this narrative that I'm just angry and just saying things just to say them without any type of context. It can be exhausting. But I feel like I have to speak out.

You know what I mean? Like I can't sit silent. Stay silent in this. I have to say something. And I just feel compelled to do it. You know, you can call that strong. You can call it stupid or whatever. But it's just me.

And if you're going to talk about something that directly affects me as a woman, as a black woman, then I'm going to say something about it, like it or not. If you don't like it, look away. Last thing I'll say about, are you, something just dawned on me. Are you the Tupac of Bachelor Nation? You said it. Not me. Rache Pock?

By the way, we, like, Rachapok. Like, seriously, we got so many nicknames for you now. Big Rache, tasteful vixen, hashtag tasteful vixen, Rache Pock, man. Look, anytime you,

that's it, anytime that you shake shit up on the Bachelor, you're Rache Pock. We're just going to get you to tie the thing around. I'll wear it.

I'll wear it next podcast. The back, the back, yeah, the Blackwood's bandana with the knot in the front. You know, Tupac,

tied it around there, do the whole thing, Thug Life. Rage Puck. the fuck I'm talking about, man. Don't back down, Rach. It is what it is. That's why I appreciate our thought warriors

and higher learning where I can just freely be myself and I'm not held to a different standard or judged in an unreasonable way. Speaking of being judged in an unreasonable way, Bill Clinton, now, very important to put this in the context. Yes, give it context. Come on now. There's a lot of black people I know, black folk. that have a lot of affinity for Bill Clinton.

There was great economic prosperity in the mid to late 90s. He took over at 92. Yep. And the 90s were a time, especially the mid to late 90s, where it seemed as if that I said this before that there was like a little, that we took a break from some of these issues. The early 90s were really bad. And then OJ was pretty upsetting.

but like the 90s were a time, they were a very celebratory time when you look back on them and Bill Clinton was the president that was around then. I mean, the 90s, we saw a great explosion culturally in black America. There's a lot of reasons, I'm kidding that.

There's a lot of reasons why black people loved Bill Clinton. Now, what we didn't see was sort of the damage that the 94 crime bill and some other things we're going to do to our communities then and now.

but we love Bill Clinton. Some people actually even call Bill Clinton because of how suave he was. He could play the saxophone. That was it. That was it. It's because he has swag. Right. Oh, whoa.

Exactly. He's smooth. All of that. That he was like the first, exactly. He was the first black president. People would say stuff like that. Like back when you make incredibly problematic statements like that and not think about what they actually meant.

Bill Clinton did some. something today, while recognizing the life of John Lewis, that to me, borders on being unforgivable. Whoa, unforgivable. Yeah, man. It borders on being unful. Not problematic, unforgivable. Go ahead. It's very, very, very, very, very, very serious to me. When Bill Clinton was talking about John Lewis, he spoke. And what he said was that John Lewis was represented a part of the fight for black American citizenship, that I guess he was saying leveled things out a little bit or stopped things from going what he considered to be too far. The way he said it was at John Lewis's funeral, he said the movement went a little bit too far towards Stokely,

but in the end John Lewis prevailed. Now, the Stokely in that is Stokely Carmichael. Stokely Carmich, who was the chairman of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which is one of these single most important groups, maybe the most important group, in my opinion, it is, in terms of black advancement and black advocacy. And really, I consider them to be a revolutionary. sort of group, one of our colleagues here at the Ringer, Bikari Sellers,

his dad was a member of SNCC. And, you know, the things that SNCC was able to do, the things that they got accomplished, the way they had also, in SNCC, they had a multicultural approach to a lot of these things, at least at the beginning,

sit-ins, marches, all of that. they were truly brave, truly revolutionary, and truly radical. Truly radical. Right. Considered by a lot of blacks to be radical because a lot of blacks had a deferential mindset back then. Well, I mean, when you talk about radical, the way I look at radicalism is radicalism doesn't mean, you know, standing in front of somebody naked with the AK-47 going, let's tear down society.

You know what I mean? Right. No, radical means anything that challenges the status quo and too aggressive and direct a way will be seen as radical. Correct. Stokely Carmichael was not the founder of this. He ended up becoming the director of this,

but his voice in black, he almost defined black power. And black power as defined by Stokely Carmichael is black self-sufficient, black equality, and the ability of black people to do for self and to be safe and protected. I'm paraphrasing, but understand that when you hear the term black power,

it is antithetical to the term white power. White power means oppression. Black power means the ability to live and express yourself free from oppression. The power to live as a black person is black power. for Bill Clinton to insinuate that in some way, Stokely Carl Michael, who went on to become Kwame Ture later on in life, and who left the United States of America because he knew that if he stayed here too long, he would no longer be alive. It ended up dying of prostate cancer, I think in 97 or 98, before his 60th birthday.

for Bill Clinton to say what he said is particularly dangerous. It makes it seem as if Stokely Carmichael wasn't right. It makes it seem as if you can go too far in fighting for your own life. You can't. There's no too far. And if there is a too far, Stokely Carmichael certainly wasn't that. You can't go far. enough in fighting for the life of your, in fighting for your life and the lives of people who

look like you. And by the way, not just the lives of people who look like him. Stokely went and met with native people. He had, he later adopted a pan-African's view of the world. So he did work on that continent. Anywhere someone was crying out for freedom, they had an ally in Stokely Carmichael. What President Clinton is trying to say is that he felt like Stokely was too militant. 100% what he said. When, and once again,

we've talked here about the white allies and things like that. White Americans don't get to tell us who our heroes are. That is a form of white supremacy. That's a form of anti-blackness. You don't get to tell somebody else who they're here.

heroes are. You don't. And especially in a situation where you're honoring John Lewis, Bill Clinton, as cool as he has been, doesn't get to stand up there and either on accident or on purpose, present a litmus test on black freedom, radicalism, and this entire movement. And to speak flippantly to me, flippantly. to me about someone as important and as vital as Stokely Carmichael really makes me wonder

a whole bunch of things about Bill Clinton things that I really should already know. So, I think what I'm going to say is going to make you really just say it's unforgivable because I more so came from the stance of it was highly unnecessary

for you to use this platform, form to talk about Stokely Carmichael in the way that you did. And I thought to myself, John Lewis would hate it. I think if you said that, if he knew you were going to say this. And you said, you don't know if he said this by accident or on purpose, and he flippantly said it. See, the reason I say you might say it's just flat out unforgivable is because it was on purpose. He was reading his speech. This is what, if you didn't watch it, he was reading it. He was looking down and he was speaking. And so he wrote it or somebody wrote it for him, whatever it is, he approved it, he said it, he meant it. And my thing is, you don't have to speak. There are so many things that

you could talk about John Lewis. There's so many ways you can honor him. And speaking about the fact that he lost his leadership of SNCC or in SNCC to Stokely Carmich. And then that Stokely Carmichael took the movement too far was highly unnecessary for you to mention. in a speech that was supposed to be honoring John Lewis at his funeral. It just was unnecessary. And I think that that's what I had the biggest problem with. When you do things like the 1994 crime bill, you don't get to then also criticize someone who's highly regarded in the black community.

And that's where I think it's kind of like, huh, we're starting to really, really raise our eyebrow about Bill Clinton. He's really showing us who he is. Like you said, in the 90s, maybe so much people didn't pay. pay attention to it because they probably thought they were never going to get a black president. So a lot of people were like, well, this is as close as we're going to get. So we're just going to take Bill Clinton. Now you're starting to see a lot of the ways that he has been extremely problematic.

And I just felt I was just disturbed when I saw it because there was just so many things and so many ways he could have honored Congressman Lewis. And instead, he brought that up. Like, we didn't need a biography of all the things that have happened to John Lewis in his career. And he's done so much. And as Obama said, he's been an unbreakable. man. And the fact that you brought up this tidbit, I thought, oh, great, are you going to bring up Julian Bond, too? And that, in that race that they had against each other as well, it just,

I was just like, Bill, what's, what's really going on? What's, what's the problem? And I wish they would pan to the audience so we could have seen maybe some facial reactions of what, to what he said. There's this notion in this, there's this thought that white America always sort of gives us the proper way to fight for our lives, right? Like I said before. Stokely ended up becoming the Prime Minister, honorary prime minister of the Black Panthers, an organization that is unfairly characterized by mainstream white America

as being militant domestic terrorists, when really what they were, were black people who saw problems and issues in their community and demanded the right to fight these issues for themselves and not be subverted or, undercut by the state. The Black Panthers, guys, if you're going to be an ally,

educate yourself on these revolutionary movements, on these so-called radicals, educate yourself on them and what they were trying to do. They were trying to sow fertile land for their people to live on. I'm talking about, like,

not on actual farms. I'm talking about in society. Black Panthers had breakfast programs, and they were about, they watched the police for police brutality. They kept tabs on the cops. This is back in the 60s. These are people that are not asking for anything. These are people who are going out there and doing for self. And in doing that directly challenging, challenging the status quo.

Okay. And Soley Carmichael represented that Dr. King and Stokely Carmichael had marched together, together. Now, they were on opposite sides, philosophical. about a lot of things, but they were right there both in the fight from both sides of it. And really, when you look at it, another huge lie is that King himself wasn't a radical. He was incredibly radical, insanely radical. At his speech on the March on Washington, Dr. King is talking, they give you the I Have a Dream part, right? And that's a big, big part of it.

but they don't give you the indictment of America by Dr. King. They don't give you the indictment of American capitalism and exploitation that Dr. King had always been about. Those are the parts of Dr. King that they don't give you. They don't give you staunch, staunch objection to the Vietnam War and the hyper-militarization of our culture here in America and how the imperialism that we sort of engage in. They don't give you that part of Dr. King. But it was all there, and it was all there as articulated by as smart a man and as genius a thinker as we've ever had in our political circles here. So when I see that from Bill Clinton, I see reckless whiteness.

reckless whiteness. Reckless whiteness that says, hey, this right here is the way we don't want you blacks to do it. We want you to do it in this way. And by the way, if John Lewis were alive, John Lewis, like you said, would educate Bill Clinton as to why

we need the entire spectrum of activism in order for this to work. Like you said, it was reckless. Just the fact that this was supposed to be a time to honor him. And instead, you took this as a time to get moved forward something that you thought. You know, rather than honoring his legacy and building on that, you decided to get, push your own agenda with that statement.

You knew exactly what you were doing when you did it. And that's why I said it was highly unnecessary. And I understand why you say it was unforgivable. Yes. Stokely Carmichael, rest in peace, a freedom writer, a disciple of the amazing Ella Baker. everything about Stokely Carmichael was, I personally believe, I personally believe that he is really,

really, I would say Malcolm, Martin, Stokely Carmichael. I would say the three of those men together. And that would be a triumvirate. And that's not to say, and by the way, that's not to figure out our sisters in the 60s at all, Fannie Lou Hamer and all those people.

Right, right. But, but, but I would say that Malcolm Martin, Stokely Carmichael, I just said, the fact that a legacy like that can be kind of, it felt very disgusting to me. I was disgusted by that and disappointed in Bill Clinton. Yeah. Well, it was a seed that was planted. You know what I mean? It's just like a little seed that was like, oh, and by the way, this is Stokely Carmichael. He was problematic and he kept on moving. But it's the seed and it gets stuck in your mind. If you're somebody who doesn't know who Stokely Carmikel. Michael is, it just planted that negative seed in your mind. You know what I mean? Like, it was, it was purposeful in what was said. Yeah. Like, yeah, good, great point about the fact that it was actually in the speech. Now, uh, something else I got talked about, like, I got, there was a stupid test that happened earlier this week. Did you see the suit? Did you get the stupid test? Is it man, person, woman? That one? No. Camera? Uh-uh. Elephant? No. Okay. It was a stupid test. Okay.

Okay. This is the stupid test. Anybody who sent you that video of Dr. Stella Emanuel on the steps. Nobody sent it to me. You got no one. Whoa, whoa, boy. No one sent you the video. I think I just saw it myself.

Nobody sent it to me. I'm pretty positive. Nobody sent it to me. So nobody sent that video of Dr. Emmanuel up there going, yo, yo, man. You don't really know. what's going on, bro. I'm telling me, nobody sent me that.

No, God, no. No. I got a lot of people send it to. Check your friends. Check your friends. See, you thought, you thought I was going to be the one to say, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got that. Not a one.

I think people know better. Did you see it on the old Instagram? Did anybody posted on it? Any of your followers posted on the Instagram, the people that you follow? I didn't see it. Damn, that's crazy. I had a lot of people. Like, I really did.

I had a lot of people. support. So they failed to In support. Yikes. In support. Like, yo, people, and then people try to get me, like, yo, Van, this is the truth. That's because she's black. I mean, that's partly, I mean, the fact that she's black was partly the reason why she was out there. We should get to the story now. So a video went viral,

hyperviral, with the help of Breitbart, by the way. Bright Bart is always doing it staying there, sticking their finger into the, the, the drink and stirring it up. Bright Barth, with Dr. Stella Emanuel. Dr. Steniel, Stella Emanuel,

she is a doctor from down there in your part of the woods, shout to Texas. I'm from Dallas. I'm from Dallas, Texas. I just won't put that out there. Oak Cliff, to be exact. She's from Houston.

And she was talking about the, she was touting the drug. How you say it? Hydrochloriclorin? Hydrochlorine. Hydrochloroquine. How hydrochloroquine? You are making it wet.

Hydrochloroquine? Hydrochloroquine. Hydrochloroquine, which is an antelamilaria drug that has been, even, it's been one of the most controversial subjects since the COVID outbreak hit is whether or not this drug actually can save your life if you have a severe and progressed form of COVID if you're in your last stages. There are some people who were swearing by it and some people were saying that the drug is actually harmful with harmful side effects and taking it does nothing but make you sicker. She was on the steps of the Supreme Court with a group of doctors and said that the drug is basically

the answer to COVID. This got shared around everywhere. The president shared it. People on Twitter shared it. There's a lot of HOTEPs. A lot of HOTEPs were sharing it. Shout out to my HOTEPs out there. A lot of HOTEPs out there.

for sharing the video. And it became a thing. Until people dug into specifically who Dr. Stellar Emmanuel is. And not to diss this sister. No. Disse her. Drag her band.

Drag. No, you know what? You drag her, Big Rache. You like, you. No, no, no. It's always me. It's always me. It's always me.

No, go ahead. No, I mean, really. The sister needs to be called out. Just up there loud and wrong. Okay. First of all, the first thing we'll say is the science on this particular drug, it was at one point, at one point it was approved as an emergency usage drug for, like I said, advanced, very serious cases of COVID-19. It has since been taken, like, it's been stripped of that. You can't use it anymore.

Right. You can't use it anymore. they say no, it does nothing. They did a bunch of tests. It has incredible side effects in terms of cardiovascular side effects and other side effects. But actually could lead to some very serious arrhythmias and you could die taking it. That's the science on it. If you guys want the fucking science, that's the science.

But there is a group of people out there on the right who believe that this drug works and that it is a secret cure-all to, COVID and the reason why it's not being used more widely is because the Democrats want you to be sick. Right. So it should be noted that old Stella Emmanuel, I'm not even going to give her, put the doctor in front of her even though she is a doctor.

She is also a minister. She is the founder of the Firepower Ministries in Houston. Now, now... Get on fire with that word. That's why I'm talking firepower. Praise Jesus. And speaking of hell, and speaking of Dean, demons, something that she also preaches in her church, which we didn't get to this part of the story.

So, okay, so she's out here. She's saying that the drug is, it works, and it's good for you. And mind you, this event, this, this, whatever it was called, was put forward by the Tea Party Patriot. That's who organized this event that she was speaking at, which is a right-wing group that was backing this. And so all this has been preached. You've had Rudy Giuliani, who had her on his radio show, and he called her a, a hero. Then people started to research

old Stella. And they found YouTube clips. And she's got a YouTube channel, y'all. She's got it out there. She's had it, I believe, since 2009. So the information was there. In one click, you could Google this woman and find this out. So five years ago, she alleged that alien DNA was being used in medical treatments.

And she said that endometriosis and cis in women are caused by, witches and demons who they have, witches and demons, who she says they have sex with in their dreams. Yeah. I'm just going to let that rest for a second. In their dreams. So, we didn't take long for people to find this out about old Stella.

So when President Trump was questioned about her, he said this, and I quote, I thought her voice was important. Good. But I know nothing about her. I'm going to say that one more time. Nothing about her. I'm going to say that one more time.

I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her. It's like the blind leading the blind. Maybe that's an offensive statement. I feel like that today I would be taken as offensive statement, even though that's technically biblical. But basically, people who know nothing are getting advice from another person

who almost knows nothing. This shows me, and it should show all of you, that we have someone who is in office, who will reach, tweet things, anything that supports his agenda. That's it. That's all he cares about.

Not the research, not knowing what the actual science is, anything that furthers his agenda. I couldn't believe it. I could not believe it. And you all know the only reason that they were reposting it because there have been plenty of people who have backed hydrochlorical. There have been plenty of doctors and scientists who say it. The reason this woman got so.

so much attention is because she was also black. Period. Put her out there. Put her out there. Set her up and, well, she set herself up. I'm not even going to say that. She set herself up. So real quick, she also said something that what she said about lizards that the people high up are.

Didn't catch this one. Go ahead. Yeah. Like there's a lizard people race of people that are controlling the earth. Lizard people, you know, lizard people. Like, they could be around. They could have the lizard people. You don't know.

Like it could be, she said a lot. of things. Here's what I'm asking. As far as the angels and demons thing or the witches and demons things, the witches and demons thing, she's, you have sex with witches and demons in your sleep. That's what she says, witches and demons. Can you rule that out? Man, this is literally. Wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm asking, I'm asking, can you rule it out? Well, I guess you'd have to believe in witches and demons. Stay with me here. I've never had a sexual experience with a witch or a demon. But if you did, Rach, how would you know?

And I'll tell you, like, stay with me. Stay with me. Well, we know that Van has probably attended a sermon or two at Firepower Ministries in Houston. And I'm not. I have. I've never been. But I do get caught up and shit like this, right? Go ahead.

Can you rule it out, Rach? Like, if you had sex with a witch, shout out to the craft. It's a movie about witches. It came out like 1995. It's actually a movie called witches. Oh. Another fucking great movie, by the way. And there's a movie called The Witches of Eastwick,

where the three witches are hot as hell. I think it's Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Cher glorious, glorious white woman hotness from the mid to late 80s, okay? But if you had had sex with a witch, couldn't that witch then cast a spell on you and make you forget that you had had sex with them. Now let's go further.

No, let's not, man. You don't want to go down a rabbit hole of whether or not we're having sex with witches and demons in our dreams? Go ahead. One last thing. If you had sex with a witch in your dream. Okay.

And let's say the witches were together in like a coven of dream fuckers, right? They fuck you in your dreams. They're very, they don't care about consent. They're witches. You have sex with one of them, and then one of them forgets to cast the sleep spell, right? One of them doesn't do it. And you remember.

And then you tell the world about it. But it happened. Wouldn't you seem crazy? Yet you're telling the truth. Yet you're telling the truth. You know, I have a feeling that Dr. Emmanuel's appointment book is, like, completely open at this point. after she's been exposed to this way.

So maybe you should go talk to her when it comes to this. Because I've never seen a lizard person, but just because I've seen one, that doesn't mean that they don't exist. Can you rule it out? Can you rule it out? In all seriousness,

I want to let you know that if you sent this video to me, God bless this woman. And if she's meant to live to be 70, I hope she lives to be 100. I wish nothing but health on her. I wish nothing but all. if you sent me this video,

you're a fucking idiot. This is what I'm talking about. This is dangerous. This is dangerous, man. This is dangerous. We're to the point in America to where we are living in a Nazi-esque propaganda age.

This is beyond, guys. This is the, we have lost any attempt at being an intellectually responsible, society. The fact that the president of the United States, not just him, but all of his emissaries and lackeys and cronies, in order to further a political agenda would go to this

length is actually terrifying. You guys, we're going to get into something else right here. We're going to talk about something that is also the same, that's also kind of in the same vein. Hydrochloroquine can kill you. It can kill you. It can kill. you. It can kill you, okay, with very little benefit. And the president, for whatever agenda, one of the most famous and powerful men on earth is pushing that. You know somebody else who the president pushed to their death? Herman Kane. President Trump killed Herman Kane. Herman Kane, who is a Republican, was a Republican, rest in peace of Herman Kane.

I'm not here in any way to shovel shit on the casket of Herman Kane. I'm not. I'm not. I'm from the South. I don't believe in speaking ill of the dead before the body even turns cold. There's a family out there that loves Herman Kane. There's a community somewhere, I'm sure, that loves Herman Kane. But understand that when Herman Kane went to that rally,

and chose not to wear a mask. And at his age, and with his pre-existing health conditions, chose to make what is essentially was a political statement by being at that rally in Tulsa with all of those people. He was following the lead

of his president and of his party. And he died for it. Needlessly. It's as serious as it gets. He's dead. Now, I don't know how much longer Mr. Kane was going to be with us, but I know it would have been longer than today. Are you like Trump for that?

I'm not blaming Trump for it. I'm blaming the propaganda. What I'm blaming is like Herman Kane died of propaganda. And I'm not saying that he's not responsible of it because he also helped propagate those same ideas. That's what I'm saying. But what I will say, though, is that there are a lot of Americans out there who are going to die from propaganda. I believe that there are a lot of Americans out there that put their trust in the president. They believe he has his position for a reason.

And they take what he says as the word. Like the couple in Arizona that said, oh, hydrochloroquine and went under their sink and drank it. And the husband died. The husband died and the woman was in critical condition. I don't even know what happened with her at the end of the day. But there are those people. Herman Kane to me is not one of those people because he's in politics. and he was perpetuating this type of propaganda out there for, to mean, political benefits.

You said it. Herman Kane had a choice. And Herman Kane made his choice and decided to go against it and not wear a mask. He continued to double down on that time and time again and even encourage other people to say, you don't need to wear your mask. That's on Herman Kane. You know, like, Herman Kane isn't one of those people who is sitting at home and trust everything that they hear from their president who they voted for. What's the difference? Because I think he was doing it. I think, like, for Trump, he doesn't necessarily care about the people. He is politicizing health.

He's politicizing mask. It's all politics for him. It's nothing else. Those people who went and drank the hydrochloroquine, I truly believe that it wasn't politics for them. They trust their president, right? Like they trust the person in power and they trust the person who's leading this country. For Herman Kane, I believe it was political as well. He was aligning himself for political gain with Trump.

That's how I believe. Maybe that's an unfair statement to make, but because he's in politics and because he has been such a strong Trump supporter, I believe that there was a political benefit behind it for him saying no mask than I do for the couple in Arizona. That's just how I take. that. It's a shame. What happened to Herman Kane, especially he died from coronavirus, which lets you all know it is out there. I had a friend this week, 35 years old, pass away from coronavirus, black. And the point I'm trying to make with that is we have been told that this is a disease that affects black and brown people two, three times more than it does for white people. So for Herman came to be a

black man and to have these pre-existing conditions. He was in such a category that was susceptible to this disease more than other people. And look what happened. And he was still pushing out this propaganda, which is such a shame. And to me, very irresponsible. Rest and peace to Herman Kane, you know, he is an example of a guy who came from parents who didn't have much and rose up and made did well for himself. And that shouldn't be taken away from him just because of his political party or who he was supporting. So I definitely believe rest in peace. And my prayers go out to his family and friends. But he was, he's wrong to keep pushing this type of information out there, especially to people who look like him. And it hits a little bit more home to me because I have a

friend who just passed away this week from it. It's out there. And it's, it's harmful. It's real. And we need to stop playing with this virus. We really, really do. This episode is brought to you by Sweet Green. The day doesn't ask for permission. Lunch window? Gone before you saw it coming. You deserve a break that actually satisfies. Sweet Green's new wraps have got you. Real ingredients? Zero shortcuts.

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And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum business to keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 U.S.-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business. So visit Spectrum.com slash business to learn more. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. Yeah. So I, first of all, I'm sorry for your loss.

It's very unfortunate. Yeah. I guess what I just want to say that. Chip to dip. Dip-a-Dip. million dollar smile. Shout out to Chip. Yeah.

I actually saw you, I saw you talking about it on, on Instagram. Yeah, so rest in peace. I guess what I'm saying is this. And this is kind of my thing. And I would love to talk to a conservative about this.

I have a lot of conservatives in my life, but they're not the wacky kind. They're not the wacky kind. And by the way, they're wackies on both sides. Wacky's on both sides. Wacky on both sides. Every group has wackies.

You got football fans, then you got wackies. Okay? You got movie fanatics, then you got wackies. You got Star Wars fans, they're wackies. There's a wacky group in every group. Every group's got wackies. You got fans of in sync, right? And then you got moms that are trying to fuck Nick Carter

so that their daughters could go inside a meet. Those are the wackies. You see what I'm saying? The wackies and everything. Or maybe they want to fuck Nick Carter, who knows? Nick Carter's not an instinct, though, by the way. He's not in his what? An insink.

He's in Backstreet Boys. I mess him up real quick. It's the same guy. I just want to make that clear. It's the same. You know, I'm messing up. He's in the Bashwood Boys. But I guess what I'm saying is I truly believe that these people believe what they're

being told. Which people? The people that believe the no mass. So I believe that this information, I believe that all of these things are basically religions. Like, you can't tell me anything about God because I believe in Jesus. Like, I believe in Jesus. So you come along and you show me something. I have faith that Jesus is there.

And because, like, this is very simple. So when I was a little kid, they gave me a view of the world. And over time, in my life, I felt the grace of God. and because of that, you can't tell me there's no Jesus. You just can't. I believe oftentimes politics is the same way. It becomes religious. So what you get from politicians above you

or politicians or political thought is not actually concepts you get scripture. So those people that are being told, no masks, they're being like evangelized to. I agree with you. And they believe in it. And so then when they get that gospel, then they spread the word. That's why it's very, very important to have responsible people at the tops of these things.

Look, people are going to do whatever they want to do. I'm not saying, by the way, that this in any way absolves Herman Kane. But I think that the only. thing that would make an 80-something year old man with pre-existing health conditions go to a rally where a deadly, potentially infectious disease could in his life within 14 days is he'd have to actually believe that he wasn't in danger. And I think that that's true with him. So in the example that you give, you give there are people who read the scripture, who take it in, who believe it, and there are people who write the scripture. I believe Herman Kane is on.

on the side that is writing the scripture. That's what I believe. Like, you can't tell, like Trump, if this, if this wasn't a political year, I don't even think that we would be dealing with these issues, right? That's a political year. If this wasn't an election year, we wouldn't be dealing

with these issues at all. And I just put, maybe because, and maybe I'm being biased because Herman Kane was in office before. He's always been very vocal. Right. I'm putting him on the side that would write these scriptures.

So if he's writing it, he's got to believe what he's putting out there. And he would contradict that if he wears a mask. If there's an agenda behind why you're writing this type of scripture, it doesn't mean that you believe it. It just means you're furthering an agenda. Maybe he thought that he was going, that maybe he's pushing Trump forward because he's trying to get into office. I don't know.

Maybe there was some type of other gain for him. But I believe he had an agenda. So you think he had an agenda and you think that Herman Kane knew, better. Like, you think he knew. So that's what I'm asking you. Yeah, like, I don't think he cared. I think he was just like, I'm, I'm supporting Trump and everything that Trump stands for, period. But do you think a lot of- Do you think that he thought that he should have been wearing a mask or that COVID? What do you think the truth? I mean, it's kind of unfair to do that. Yeah, it's hard. It's hard. It's like the, the, the congressman. I do not know what a state he's from. And I cannot remember his name that just tested positive for COVID.

And despite the fact that he hasn't been wearing a mask and he tested positive for COVID, he just started wearing one. He said, oh, I must have got it from the mask I was wearing. It's that type of bully, right? Like, you're just going to go down with the ship, just down, just loud and wrong. That's how I feel Herman Kane. And I don't know. And maybe I'm wrong with this.

And I do want to say this also. Herman Kane's camp is saying that they don't know where he contracted the virus from. We're okay. I know. But I just want to say it. I just want to put that out there. I just want to put that out there just in case, you know, people try to come back and say,

they are saying they don't know where he got it from. And I also don't know if he changed his stance after he contracted the virus. I don't know. Do you want to do a quick little, I forgot to bring this up in the pre-show. Do you want to do, like, I had somebody write to me and asked me to help answer a question?

This was somebody on the old Instagram thing. kind of like a mailbag thing. Okay. But this person is named Carmen Vasquez, 98. Okay. Which might mean that she was born in 98, which is the year that I graduated high school, which means fuck you, Carmen, for being so young, okay? I shouldn't even be talking about you or to you, you young person.

All right. But Carmen asked that we answer a question for her, and I think this is a good question. Rache, is this okay with you? We didn't talk about that. this yet. Is this okay? No, I'm curious. What's the question? It must be good for you to want to bring it on the podcast. Yes, so this is the question. Hi. This is the way I'm going to read, I'm going to Carmen. Hey, Carmen. Hi, I listen to every episode of higher learning. You're in Rachel and I need advice. My whole family are Trump supporters. And while my mom thinks what happened to

George Floyd is wrong, she thinks that Black Lives Matter is, the Black Lives Matter movement is ridiculous and making it seem like only Black Lives Matter. I've tried to explain. I, that is at the point it is acknowledging the pain and suffering that black people have gone through for decades. I need help in explaining to her the reason why Black Lives Matter is important. She always says, well, white, Hispanic, Asian, et cetera, et cetera, have gone through it too. So why are we only saying Black Lives Matter? Please help, prayer hands. If you could answer on the podcast, that would be wonderful. I'm sure many people are dealing with the same issues of being forced to be acquainted with Trump supporters.

Also to mention, my mom is fully white, Irish and German descent. I am half white and half Mexican. She also says she's not a racist. I mean, it's hard to give blanket, like a blanket, especially if you've been trying, right? Because I thought she was going to say she doesn't know what to do. She hasn't said anything. You've been trying. You've obviously tried and tried and tried to tell your mom what's up and why Black Lives Matter, too, as well, in addition to other races.

It's not saying only. It's saying too, but some people always want to forget that. I mean, listen, some people don't want to be saved. Some people don't want to be helped. And it sounds like your mom, unfortunately, may be one of those people. And until her heart, because racism really is a heart issue at the same time, some people just don't want to change their heart. You can throw all the facts, the history, examples, the deaths in their face, and they still only want to see it their way. You can't change somebody's heart.

They have to be willing to change it on their own. I mean, I'd give different advice if you hadn't tried. Go ahead. But you try. She don't want to be saved. It's true. Oh, my God. Please watch the podcast on Spotify so you can see.

big racial face, the disgust? Oh, oh my God. Carmen, we're not mean to this your mom. Carmen, this is what I'll tell you. If you're trying to explain what matters means to your mom, mattering is a complex term in terms of what it means, what Black Lives Matter. It means, obviously, Black Lives Count.

It means Black Lives are important. important, black lives are safe, black lives are expressive, black lives are empowered. It means a lot of things. It just means we're part of it. Tell your mom, we don't feel a part of it, and it just means that we're a part of it. That's what Black Lives Matter means. It just means that we're a part of it. Whatever it means to be an American, right? Whatever President Obama spoke very eloquently today about the ideals, the American ideals that we're chasing, we don't feel like we're a part of it. Any the group, by the way, that doesn't feel like they're a part of it, feel free to co-opt,

right? Trans-lives matter. Native lives matter. Whatever. Feel free to co-opt, right? No one looks at people, or you shouldn't, look at people that are saying trans lives matter, and then saying, no, it's Black Lives Matter. No. I haven't heard anybody that says

Black Lives Matter, I do that. When we say matter, we mean this American thing, this human thing, we're a part of it. And it feels like in the past that we haven't been a part of it. That doesn't feel like in the past, we haven't been a part of it. Correct. In every single area of American citizenship that you can be a part of it, we haven't

been a part of it. We haven't. We haven't. Economically, socially, politically, we haven't been a part of it. And we're asserting, we're not asking. We're asserting that we're a part of it now. We matter. That's what it means.

not matter more than anybody else. Right. Like Rachel said, we matter. Secondly, to Rachel's point, and this is the tough part, Carmen, Carmen, it might just be fuck your mama. I knew this was coming. I knew this was coming. I'm just, look, look, I want everybody. Okay, take a breath.

I did not just tell one of our listeners, fuck your mom. I didn't say that. I said it could be fuck your mom. Okay. There's a chance that it's like, yo, mama, fuck you. Carmen, and anybody else is dealing with this, I give you guys right now permission to let all of the shit roll. Don't even get angry.

Don't get angry. Don't be mad about it. Truly, say fuck it. Concentrate on the people that are with you. and not on the people that are against you, even if those people are your mom. That is what Rachel was just saying. You try it.

You try it. You try it. If your mama don't get it, we still got to get it done. But good for you, Carmen, for trying. Good for you for being an ally. Thank you for listening to the podcast for writing in. And like Van said,

focus on the people who are with you. And just lead by example. You know what I mean? Like maybe she'll soften her heart. maybe she'll change. But you just keep doing you because you sound like you're doing it the right way. But maybe, Carmen.

No, no, Carmen, no, Carmen, no. Maybe you might have to say, fuck you, Mama. That's your mom, Carmen. Don't do it. That's your mom, Carmen. Carmen, don't ever say that to your mom. I don't even care.

Don't ever say that to your mom. But you know what? Carmen, do this. The next time your mom is talking that shit, smile. But in your mind, you've done this before, by the way. If you're a kid, you've done this before. I don't care who you are.

If you're a kid, your parents have told you to do something and you've been like, okay, cool, cool. But in your head, you're like, hey, man, fuck you, dog. They should do that to my dad all the time. Hey, fuck you. This is your mind of me? You've never done that? Like, I'm going to my dad all the time.

I was such a good kid. No, I did not think like this. Whoa, and the whole time, you were. No, I was like scared to, I was so scared to like be disrespectful. I was really, really like that. But I'm laughing. I'm laughing because it just reminds me of, you mad at her, she's mad at you,

and y'all just arguing, just tired of arguing. You just look over at her and you say, whoa, whoa, whoa, fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck you. And by the way, and by the way, I'm like, that's weird that you've never felt that about your parents,

but, like, I hope that. No, I'm so serious. Rachel, I hope that your kids have the same upbringing that you had because that's beautiful. That's beautiful. My pops one time, my dad used to do this thing. As soon as the car would come, my dad had a big diesel duly truck, right? And you could hear his truck coming up the block, you know, when we lived in Gardia. You could hear his truck coming up the block.

And I knew that after having worked all day long that my dad did not want to see me relax or having a good time at all. It was his worst nightmare to have gotten up. up at four, right? Gone and worked construction. He owned a construction company. And then come home and see me playing like Mario Kart. He's not fucking with that. That's not what he likes.

He wants to see you, if he wants to see when he comes home from all of that work, he wants to see you sitting down watching Bible studies on TV polishing a student of the year trophy. That's what he wants to see. Like he wants to know that that work means. something. But that's not what would be happening. Me and my homies would be in there on that fucking madden. That's what we would be doing. And so as soon as I would hear the truck come up, I would tell my boys, I would be like, hey, y'all, hey, sit up straight. Act like you're not having a good time. Sit up straight. Sit up straight right now. Act like you just got bad news.

Don't let this nigger see you having a good time. But it still didn't never fail. When he came home, find something to do. Like right away. Van, have you fed the horse? yet? Well, not the horses. Not that. We weren't living in exactly exactly. But like, Van, you fed the dogs? We did have horses, but later on. Like, it's like, it's like, Van, you fed the dogs? I'd be like, yes, sir. Well, go check on them and make sure they're not hungry again. And when I would get, when I would get up, in my mind, I would be like, yes, sir.

Did you have a great day at work, father? How are things? What would you need? Would you like me to draw you a bath? But in my mind, I'm thinking, yo, fuck you, dog. I never thought of it was. Carmen, that's your thing. That's what you think. Appreciate you listening to know, Carmen. Good luck, Carmen.

Good luck, good luck, Carmen. I think we're going to, I think Carmen about to go full MAGA, by the way. Just because she's not going to, she got no help from us. She's about to go full MAGA. So, Afro Latina. Do you understand what it means to be Afro Latinx? Yeah. It means that you have black in you. At least that's what you're claiming, right?

I mean, I know that there are, maybe it doesn't mean directly that like a parent is black, but because you come from a race that has a history of blackness, I know that there are Latinos that consider themselves Afro Latino because of that. So we're going to. Even if they don't look it, even if they don't look it. So we're going to just define it so that we know. because we're about to wait into kind of complex ethnic and cultural. Did you just set me up?

Was that not the correct definition? It basically is. Okay. I was like, couldn't you have read the definition before you just? No, no. It basically is no. I'm just saying the reason why I asked, though, is because that's basically it. But the reason why I asked, though, is because I think it's important to get what you,

what somebody would answer to that question, which is I would have given the same answer as you. And then read. I'm in class. Okay. Go ahead. Well, I'm sorry, Rach. Ask me what, ask me what Afro-Latine is.

No, you haven't looked at it yet. I haven't looked at it yet. No, you asked me. You asked me what it is? Van, what does Afro-Latino mean to you? It's when you're Puerto Rican, but you listen to Biggie. Okay. That's the, that's a, that's the, that's the only Puerto Rican.

Only Puerto Rican. You're Puerto Rican, but it's not, you're Puerto Rican, but it's not all about Daddy Yankee to you. Is, right. shout out to the Afro-Latinas out there. But this is what it means, just so that there's a definition, which is a very important cultural identity to people and very important to sort of the conversation we're about to have. Afro-Latina or Black Latin American refers to Latin Americans

of significant or mainly African ancestry. This term may also refer to historical or cultural elements in Latin America thought to have emanated from this community. So essentially this, I'm going to talk with my limited sphere of knowledge right here. The slave trade, the boats just didn't come here to the mainland America. They stopped in other places, right? They stopped in places where Spanish culture was intermixed with the African ancestry of those people, right? So if you're talking about people in Dominican Republic, you're talking about some Cubans.

If you can, if you look at some of the Cubans, you see. Talking about Colombians. I mean, yeah, yeah, right, exactly, right? But these people are black. Right. Like, Afro-Latinas, they're black. Like, to me, Sammy Sosa is a black man. Was.

Was a black man. Was a black man. Like LeVon Hernandez, one of the pictures, those, these black people. But culturally, they're different. Correct. culturally, they're different. So lately, there has been, and that was a clumsy sort of explanation, but it's my best to, I'm doing my best to make it. So people know that like ethnicity, race and culture are not always exactly the same thing.

They're very different. They get, they get like labeled as the same thing as a sort of oneness here in America. but they're not. In America, they have, oh, it's black or white, but you go to different places where if they're even amongst black people in these different countries, there are tons of different ethnicities, you know, the whole not. So, the reason why this definition is important is because there has been sort of a unity amongst the Afro-Latina,

Afro-Afro-Latino population, people that would consider themselves to be that. And people who consider themselves, I guess, in America to be regular black. There's no such thing as a regular black. But I can even remember there being conversations on

huge, huge platforms about what it means to be Afro-Latino. And the solidarity that Afro-Latinos would have with Americans who have, with black Americans here, who have their roots in the transatlantic slave trade

that happened here in America. One story short, if you have African ancestry, probably due to the transatlantic slave trade, you're Afilatina, meaning basically we're all the same. Now, bring this up because this got tested just recently. And these are complex things that we're dealing with. It got tested because of a tweet by John LeguZamo. John LeguZamo is an actor and a writer that I absolutely adore.

Okay. but he reacted to the Emmy Award nominations. Every time award nominations come out, people freak the fuck out. I just love the way you're breaking it down. It's true. A lot of people, a lot of people feel like John Legu Zamo was wrong of these people. I don't necessarily think that it's necessarily the case, but I'll let you guys make your own decision. So John Logosomo said in a tweet, we are 25% of the U.S. box office and less than one.

percent of the stories told. What's up Hollywood? Streamers, networks, question marks. 2020 M nominations were slammed by the Hispanic caucus for Latin X erasure. Now, to that tweet, Dasha Polanco from Orange is New Black, and also from a movie, a brilliant movie by Avery Duvonne, called When They See Us, responded. with a tweet that pissed off a lot of black people and got labeled as anti-black,

anti-black. Her tweet said this. And I'll see if you think this is anti-black. Her tweet said, if it's only us speaking up on it, no one cares. It's the silence from those that fight for equality, but only their equality.

Diversity, but diverse enough to include thyself. That mentality of as long as I'm good, I don't see a damn thing. So what she's basically saying is that she feels like I'm not going to say what she's basically saying. I'm going to tell you how people took it. People took that as

Dasha Polanco saying that because there were a lot of African American nominees, black nominees for the Emmys this year, that black people are content that they got nominated, don't really care that Latinx people are being locked

out and that that idea in it of itself is in some way hindering Latin ex representation in the arts. Read the line again where she says there. She says, okay, what she says is she goes, it's silence from those that fight for equality, but only their equality. That's it. So here's my immediate question, which is why I understand why she got the reaction that she did and could have been well deserved. They flamed her.

They flame that tweet as anti-black. I don't know if it's anti-black, but it's definitely, as I said earlier in the podcast, highly unnecessary because my immediate question is, who is the there that you're referring to, right? And it's easy, and I'm probably right to infer that you're talking about the current fight-free quality that is happening right now in our country, which is the Black Lives Matter movement, which is black. So when you make a term or when you make a statement that says there, you're talking about black people. And I had a huge problem with this because it's like, listen, I get you being upset that there is not Latinx representation in regards to the Emmy nominations.

And you should be upset. But that doesn't mean that you have to put one race down or one movement down just to build your movement up. That is why people are upset. And that is why it's a problem. I think that her second tweet is what she should have said the first time. Because if that's what you meant, it is highly different from your first tweet. You directly criticized a movement and criticized that movement for not being inclusive of your culture. But I thought we were all black.

I thought you consider yourself black or Afro Latin X. Does she not consider herself that? That was the thing. That's why we defined that before. Well, no, she's defined herself as Afro-Latenex. Latino before. Right, but not in that tweet. So you have to know, you have to know her history to know she's done it before. But in the second tweet. But I think that that's what a lot of people had a problem with. So, and I think this is very important to discuss. And I don't really know. I think

well, a lot of people had a problem with was the fact that they're looking at her like, we thought you were black. Right. We thought you were black. And now you're saying something that divides, separates you from being black. That's that, that is also why it was problematic. But I guess what was also, there's so many things that were wrong with this to me, but what also was a problem to me is the fact that it's almost as if she was, there was blame, there was fault for us not including Latinx in the Latinx community. Well, it's called Black Lives Matter. And it's not excluding people.

It's just encouraging black people to unite and fight together and to bring awareness and to assert their rights to America and to a country where those rights are not respected. It is in no way against any other community. And I believe she's somebody who has spoken out. I believe she is somebody who has marched. So then to make this statement, it's very much a contradiction to the things that she has stood for prior to this. That's why it was confusing to people. And I think that's why she got so attacked.

And if you don't know her history before this tweet, I totally understand why people would label it anti-black. I don't think that she is that. I think that she got caught up in what was happening and the fact that there wasn't representation as far as the Emmy nominations, I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt with that, but it was wrong. And I understand why she was dragged on Twitter.

I'm not supporting the dragging of it, but I understand it. Yeah, I think that when we look at, a lot of times we do have to separate race from ethnicity in terms of telling stories, right? Because if you're a black man from, Baton Rouge, Louisiana like I am, and you're an Afro-Latina,

an Afro-Latino brother from Harlem or from Miami or someplace like that. With those different cultural roots, those different cultural experiences, there's beauty in both the sameness of those experiences of being darker-skinned and have an African ancestry. But there's also beauty in the differences of those, the differences in those experiences, right?

There's a very specific cultural sort of prescription that you're going to follow. There are going to be things that you're going to eat that I don't eat. They're going to be even ways of worship that you're going to have that I don't have. There's going to be speech that you're going to have that I'll – it's different. So when you say telling stories, the hue of somebody's skin isn't really enough to say, okay, we're all black, so we're all representing. No, you want a specific experience represented. And I get that.

And I understand that. I get that being a Latino in America has a specific experience to it, even if we're all binded by our ancestry. I do get that. At the same time, it gets weird when I think that needs to be a little bit more synergy in how we connect. Because if we all black, when I say, say I'm fighting for black people, I mean you.

So if you're, like, it would have been, to me, it's a more constructive thing. I'm not telling Dash Palanco or anybody else. It's more constructive to maybe, like, implore upon us that there's a part of black America that's being left behind. Right. Rather than to indict us for not, because I don't, I can speak for myself. I love to see representation. I champion representation. And I would champion the representation

of any Latin ex-performer to tell their story. Like, the reason why I love John Leguizmo so much is not even because of his performances and films, even though he's been great, right? It's because he does these amazing one-man shows where he talks about, and they're so, he is such a talented performer and it's all about his life

as a Puerto Rican guy growing up in New York. So I love that but I think that what a lot of people were taken from was like what you said. It felt like

she was insinuating that black people don't give a fuck about brothers and sisters in the Latinx community because things are starting to work for us. I feel like that characterization is not unfair, but a little bit lazy. That's lazy. Like she was in, when they see us, with Jarel Jerome, who is a fantastic, fantastic young talent. That brother is Dominican. And he won the Emmy last year. And Black America went nuts.

nuts, absolutely nuts for him. So, you know, I love my Afro-Afro-Latino brothers and sisters. I really do. But if we need to get more on cold, we got to talk about it. We can't really lob spears at each other. Spears. Maybe that was racist because we're off in Africa. But I think she caught a lot of people off guard with that.

I think that she, I think a lot of people were like, it seemed as if she was getting at us. And that's why people were labeled to tweet anti-black. But she was. Because what else are you talking about? Like, there's nothing else. Maybe you were saying it out of emotion, but let's just call a spade a spade,

but you were getting at us. That sentence, that there, and that's why I wanted to highlight that, who else are you talking about? You know, you're not fighting about, you're not talking about white people equality. They got, that's who we're asking.

for help from. I shouldn't say it that way, but you know what I mean. Like, their equality has never been challenged. All right. You're talking about us, period. Right.

But you're supposed to be us. Right. There's a difference. I mean, look, I'm saying, look, to be honest with you, that's what annoys people. What annoys people is that it's, I used to get into this argument back and forth

with some of my African brothers. Have friends. Be honest with you. Friends. they know who they are. These are my people. These are my people. These are Nigerian brothers, right?

They had gone to school with my brother, you know. And we would talk. And as long as we were having conversations about things here in America or whatever, it would be like we were all one. We all listened to the same music. We all played the same sports. All of this stuff. But there seemed to be whenever it was convenient or whenever there was a value,

judgment that needed to be made a weird separation of their blackness and my blackness. When Obama was elected president, there was a, we were all on a Gmail thread and one of, one of the guys on the thread said, it makes sense that he would be African. And I was like, what do you mean? Yeah, yeah. And they go, well, there's a different sense. of achievement. There's a different sense. Like he looks at the world different.

And that's probably comes from his father and the fact that he doesn't feel oppression in this. It was this weird whole thing. And I remember responding back because these are my guys. These are my guys, right? Were they in the crew? What was it? The player what crew? They weren't in the player proof crew.

They were my guys. They were my guys. I remember responded back going. Yo, y'all think y'all better than me? Like, real question. Is this the first time you had heard someone speak that way that was,

I'm just curious? Not necessarily the first time. Okay, okay. It was the first time I understood it, though. Okay. Because I knew a Nigerian girl and her brothers were referred to me as Akata. Mm.

And that means, like, cotton picker. like she's seen a cata boy and i didn't know what that meant until they told me later on uh i i i know that my one of my friends from from undergrad told me that like it was it was a bad word or whatever but anyway so one right away it seemed like to me that those people were black when it was time to celebrate blackness but when it was time to be other they opted out And I think the opting out of it bothers. I can speak for myself a whole fucking lot of black people. Of course.

And it seemed like for whatever reason that Dasha Polanco opted out not in calling for more representation for Afro-Latinos. Not at all. That's like I would champion that. Like I am, I love to see those stories, right? But it seemed like when she indicted the black community. that was sort of an opt-out. Like, y'all not really here for us. But I think that we are.

But maybe we need to be more. But maybe we need to be more. But I just don't think it's fair. Like, you know, I'm sure you get a lot of this too. We speak out a lot in support of, you know, Black Lives Matter and the things that are affecting the black community. And then you get a lot of, well, why didn't you speak out against this? And why didn't you speak out against this?

And people expect because you use your platform to speak out against injustices that you're supposed to speak out against every single injustice. that's happening. And you honestly can't keep up. Just because we don't use our platform to highlight things and injustices that are happening in the Latinx community, it doesn't mean that we don't support them. And so as, you know, like, so we do. It's just you can't do everything. You can't bring attention to every single thing, but it doesn't mean that you're excluding them. And that's the thing. It's like if my Latinx brothers and sisters, they're going through something and they tweeted or they posted, I'm going to be right there supporting them.

You know what I mean? The same way we did when we had the anti-Semitism comments, we talked about them. And we spoke on behalf of the Jewish community and our support for them. So I just, I don't know. The more I keep talking about her tweet, the more I am, I feel like I started off and I was like, it was highly unnecessary. Now I'm like really offended by it. The more we keep talking about it because you don't get to step halfway in and halfway out, you know? like the example that you gave about your friend, that's your guy.

It's like you want to be a part of it when it's convenient, but then when it's not convenient, you want to say, oh, I'm not like them. Because I have those friends, too. I didn't learn that until college when I had black friends from different countries who told me that they are taught that African Americans are totally different for them. They are taught you are better than them. You're not like them. I had never heard of that until I went to college.

And I was like, come on. We all got to unite because I'm telling you these people who don't look like. us when they see you, you're one of us. And unlike that, Dash, I'm going to say her name wrong. And I'm not even trying to say it wrong. You're shading her, but that's okay. You're shader.

No, unlike Dashna, you don't get grouped in as being a part of, you know, the Afro-Latinx community. Nobody's going to look at you and say that immediately. They're going to look at you and she's brown. She's Hispanic, you know? So it's, if you're going to claim it, you're going to be about it.

Be about us all the way. Don't step half in and half out. Shout out to all my African homies. Shout out to Nigeria. Shout out to Ghana. Shout out to all of my homies from the diaspora. But there was a time where I rebelled. Against?

Because against them. I was deeply hurt by that. Like there was a time when I was like... It's shocking when you first fell out. Yeah. Like it was there was a time when I rebelled. Like they would post a Jay Z song and I'll be like, like, don't post no fucking JZ song.

I don't want to hear that. I want to hear what's hot in Lagos. I was like, I don't want to hear that shit from you at all. So if you play Afro beats, if you play Afro beats, can they say that to you? No, because I'm African and I never made that. You know what? No, they can't.

I'll tell you why. I never made a distinction. I was brought up to, and that was another thing that hurt because I was brought up to revere and deify all things African. Remember, Africa is in the view of my parents and sort of what they taught me. Africa is our truth. It's our power. Yeah, it's what we really are.

I remember my mom told me way back in the day, my mom was like, I was telling my mom, like, is it true that like we come from kings and queens? And she goes, no. I'm like what? She's like, no. She's like, it's true that some of us come from kings and queens. She was like, what we come from might be herders or carpenters or like doctors or whatever or like whatever. But we come from something more than this. Okay.

She was like, I don't need you to believe that you were once a king. Like she said, I need you to believe that you are a full human with knowledge of self, knowledge of who you are, knowledge of your surroundings, and control of the things that were meant for a human being to control. That's what you come from. You come from something that is yours and not theirs. So the imagining Africa to me was always imagining the purest freedom that I can, that I can, like, have.

because it was a time when we were free when we did everything for ourselves. And then like having somebody that's from there fuck over me was like, yo. It was just like, you, are you with them? Like it was you look at me

and decide like, okay, fuck it. I'm the fucking worst. And so I started fucking with them for a long time. I fuck with it. They were married American girls and I'd be like, leave our sisters alone. But a lot of times that their family

doesn't like when they do that. I don't know. Anyway. It's very shocking when you first find out. I know I learned when there were different cultures, when there were different groups.

It was the ASA African Student Association and there was, then there was black. I was like, well, why are we all together? I'm quite confused. I didn't realize

that they wanted it to be separate. Yeah. No. And that's when I stopped with that African-American shit. That's when I stopped. I was like,

I'm black. And I have to take pride and I have to I have to build and revere the legacy of black Americans here and the struggles because they are very specific. And it seems like no one in the world can really understand exactly what they are. But you know what? At the same time, I still maintain, I love Africa, man. I'm like, I still feel the same way about Africa. I just got something in the mail. Have you been in Africa?

I haven't. I haven't either. I haven't. But I still love the idea. Like, I get all emotional. Like, when I see it on television, I feel like something's really been stolen. Yeah. It's still.

No, I'm 100% feel you. Yeah, it's like, I'll be out there with a giraffe, man. I'd be with a giraffe. Like, I'll be hanging out with that. I'm supposed to be chilling and running around. Like, they, anyway. All right. Do you have an unspected ally of the week?

I don't. I really tried hard to, maybe I'll have one by the time you finish. Yeah. So my unexpected ally of the week is unexpected, not because this person is an unexpected ally, but it's just because this person did something that I think is absolutely a miracle.

So my unexpected ally of the week is Rob Bliss. He describes himself as, director, producer, and talent. The reason why he is my unexpected ally of the week is because he put his shit on the line. He went to Harrison, Arkansas, which he describes as one of the most racist, as the most racist city in America. I don't know if it is, but it seems pretty racist. Well, I had somebody write me about it and said yes. Yes, we used to live there and said absolutely yes.

So Rob stood outside A couple of different places One Walmart Specifically with a Black Lives Matter sign And then video recorded The reaction to the sign Yikes Right

He was verbally harassed physically threatened On a couple of different occasions And just given hell Hell was called a Marxist a communist

just that he he was called the N-word which I loved I love it they called him the N-word so the reason why

I and at the end of the video was very beautiful gave me a little bit of hope a young lady walks up to him and hands him a note and on the note

it said very moving on the note it said keep doing what you're doing you're doing the right thing blah blah which just tells you that there's hope everywhere.

There's hope everywhere. But also, the fact that she didn't stand right there and talk to him about it, the fact that she gave him the note and then wanted her face to be blurred, our real job is to light a fire under hope. It's to empower ladies like that, ladies like that young lady,

who don't feel safe enough to speak a truth that would help, that would help people. Our job is to build a wall around people like that who would want to do the right thing and make it safe for them. But I thought the video was beautiful.

I thought Rob Bliss, he was told in the video, dude, you got balls of steel, and he does, man. He absolutely does. I'm mad I didn't think of that one because I actually posted that too. And I didn't even think about that. Absolutely the unexpected ally of the week. Man, normally I'm on top of this.

I'm good. I mean, I guess if I just had to pull one, you're not going to like this ally of the week, unexpected ally of the week, but he was because we're talking about Bill Clinton and we're talking about his problematic behavior at Congressman John Lewis's funeral, but who got a shout out

for the good that they did at John Lewis's funeral? Did you see it? Who got a shout out? You're not going to talk about George Bush, are you? He did get a shout out. I was shocked. I said you're going to be mad.

I said you're going to be mad. Okay. I was shocked. Of course, you know, usually at these funerals when it's someone of this stature and the presidents and the presidents go, the living presidents, except for Trump in this case, usually go to this funeral. And they usually shout them out and they get a hand clap. They stand up. And George Bush not only was shouted out, he was commended for signing the vote, being the last president to sign the Voting Rights Act. I'm just saying.

I was just saying That was unexpected. Is that not the name of the segment? Is that not the name of the segment? That's fine. I am from South Louisiana. I know you were going to have a fit when I said it. I'm not saying.

I'm not saying I'm a fan. I'm just saying that was unexpected. He was called out from the pulpit and given some praise. The last president to come to New Orleans when Americans were underwater. But that is another conversation for another day. and another topic on war criminals with George W. Bush. We can talk about that.

Wait, the segment's called Allied, unexpected ally of the week. We gave him a week. Now you can take it back. You could take it back. Okay, cool, cool. I took that motherfucker back. All right.

All right. The thought warriors, take your thinking caps off. I am Van Lathen. I am Rachel Lindsay. Send your questions in. DM Van. He might read them on the podcast.

Actually, we're going to do that every Thursday. Send your questions in about how to deal with your racist-ass parents. And we go school on. We're going to get a message from Carmen's mom next time. I would love to talk to Carmen's mom. I would love to, Carmen's mom can be on higher learning if she wants. You want to have a roundtable?

Let's do that. I would love to talk to Carmen's mom, man. Bring Carmen's mom on. on the thing. Right or back. Right or back. We bring families together here on higher learning. All right.

Carmen, you and your mom, come on higher learning. We'll figure this whole thing out. But for right now... No, don't say it. Goodbye. Bye. Fuck your mom.