Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - The Situation in Portland Is a Defining Moment in American History

Episode Date: July 24, 2020

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss the sit-down between former vice president Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama (4:05), the Trump administration sending in unmarked troops to quell protests in Portland (18:02), Draya Michele’s comments about Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion (34:51), and the rap battle between DMX and Snoop Dogg (53:32), before giving their Unexpected Ally of the Week awards (1:13:11).And in case you didn’t know, you can now watch video of every 'Higher Learning' episode directly on Spotify. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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What's up, Thought Warriors? Welcome to Higher Learning. I am Van Lathen. I am Rachel Lindsay. Just let you guys know that we just did a whole different intro, but my mic was on the ground. Like I was literally talking to the computer with no mic. A solid two minutes.

A solid two minutes. We had a full-out intro. It's okay. Yeah. During this intro, we learned that you haven't seen the Fast and the Furious. Okay. I've seen one, maybe one and a half. Okay.

You've seen the movie, the Fast and the Furious. I have. I've seen it. So name four people in the movie. Okay. Here we go. Paul Walker, rest in peace. Tireece.

Ludacris? No, wrong. They're not in it? They're not in the original Fast and Furies. Okay, okay, fine. Vin Diesel. Ben Diesel. That's two.

You know, I've never been good with names. I can see faces. I can see faces. The two women, Jordan, Jordan. Oh, there you go. There you go. Come on, Big Rage. Jordane and Michelle Rodriguez. So I'm talking about.

I doubt it. Y'all see how he tried to play me? I doubt it, Big Rache. You know what? Hey, hey, you showed improved. Now, you didn't get Jordana Brewster's full name, but I know that you know who she is. Thank you.

So I give you, we're going to start doing that every single Friday podcast. No, we're not. I'm just going to pick a random movie since you were obviously raised, like in the basement somewhere where they didn't allow you to watch any movies at all you are like you haven't seen anything there's truth in that there's there's truth in that I wasn't allowed

remember I told you I could only see PG movies until I turned 13 and then PG 13 and by the time I got there I didn't even care for movies by the time I turned 17 I thought you've deprived me for movies for 17 years that's so sad that's so sad you were just like I'm done with movies

it's pretty much what happened I get them kids are done with sugar But you said I'm done with film How can you be done? Think about all the movies you haven't seen Big Rage It's a beautiful world out there for you You don't know what you're missing

I never had it So I don't know what I'm missing In college, yeah Like I've So I couldn't even watch shows Like The Simpsons No No

Roseanne And I remember when I went to college My mom bought me The DVD set of In Living Color And I was in college like, oh, y'all see Homie the clown? And they were like, like 15 years ago. We saw it when we were children.

Like 50 years ago. Well, by the way, shout out to all my homies and the Wayne's family. Shout out to Damien. Shout out to Sean. Shout out to everybody. But they probably were right not to let you watch in living color.

If you go back now and watch old and live in color episodes, they are two things. Number one, absolutely hysterical maybe the most hysterical comedy that's ever been on television short of the Chappelle's show. And number two, wild. I mean, there were no rules.

Every single group got it on in living color. And to a point to where it's almost uncomfortable to watch now, but then we were rolling watching that stuff, man. Yes, yeah. I was trying to bring it back in college and they were like, we've been experienced this. Right.

We're not going back to humming the clown. But I'm like, but the Cosby's. But y'all watch the Cosby's. My Cosby kids out there know what I'm talking about. Yeah, Cosby was good. We bring them up way too much on this podcast. By the way, we're going to need a No Bill Cosby episode here pretty soon. It's getting weird.

So, speaking of comedy, one of the more amusing things that I saw from this past weekend, this past couple of days was, it's actually, I said weekend, but the past couple of days. I'm already in weekend mode, was the sit down between Joe Biden and Barack Obama. I don't know if you guys have seen this, but. You thought it was funny? It was humorous to me. As are all things that are overly earnest and overproduced.

It was overproduced. I'll give you that from what I saw. I didn't see the whole thing. Right. first of all, it is now Barack Obama's job to normalize Vice President Biden to people like myself who are skeptical of him, yet voting for him somewhat in protest. Actually, I'm not voting for anyone.

I'm not voting for somebody. You're voting against. I'm voting against Donald Trump. That's the America we live in. Okay. But I will do anything that I have to do to get Vice President Biden in. Whatever. But the sit down happened and it covered some topics.

I think it was about 15 minutes long. They talked about coronavirus. They talked about the economy. They talked about something that I thought was a very useful conversation, which is the link between public health and the economy, which is something you don't often hear about. I think it's under-discussed, but they actually touched on it. But the more important aim of this conversation, in my opinion,

made it funny. It was funny to me because the obvious point of this conversation was for Joe Biden to remind people that Barack Obama really, really likes him. And it was like, hey, you know that guy that likes you, that you like? Well, guess what? He likes me. And when I watched it, that was the biggest takeaway from it. Joe, I'll tell you why I really love you so much, Joe. And And it was, that was the entire thing. You watched it. What did you think? Well, I didn't watch the whole thing.

I saw clips. And so from what I saw, it seems a lot of like Barack Obama was interviewing Joe Biden, but also answering the questions. Is that how it came across? Because I don't watch the whole thing. It was more so of a conversation. I don't think anyone was, there were times when they both asked each other questions. You could tell that there was probably a much longer and deeper conversation that happened.

And they cut it down and gave us the best moments, which is nothing. And no shame in that. But yeah, they were both asking and answering questions at different times during the back and forth. Yeah. I mean, again, I didn't watch it because I really didn't see the, I understand why they did it. I agree with you. I didn't see the importance behind it. It was more of a reminder that I was Barack Obama's vice president.

Barack Obama is my friend. And you guys should vote for me because of Barack Obama. Like that's just kind of how I took it. It didn't have any impact on me. I wasn't anticipating watching it because I didn't. It just didn't really, it didn't do anything for me, but I understand the purpose behind it in light of who he's fighting against and what he's fighting against.

I get it. And I think that Obama got a lot of criticism before all that, when there were so many Democratic people, Democrats running for president on the Democratic side, there was a lot of talk that Barack Obama wasn't saying anything. He wasn't supporting Joe Biden. Who is it that he's endorsing? So I feel like now he did his town hall, what, like a month and a half ago, maybe two months.

Now he's doing this sit down. I feel like he's being more of a presence because we hadn't seen so much of him before. And it's just a reminder that, hey, if you love Barack, he loves Joe Biden. Right. So I think that the president actually made the right move not getting in until the American people had had their say. You love, show me how much why? you got there, Big Rage. Big Rage just took a swig of that wine.

Big Rache's just took a swig of that wine. That's what I'm talking about. You live your best life, Black woman. Big Rage, like, we're talking. And are you stressed? Do we need to pause for a second and talk? Because you just, you took that wine, like, everything good? The home front is good.

Everything's good. Everything's good. I have to remind you guys, we are at a three-hour time difference. It is the end of the day to me. So it's like a lot has happened. And a lot of times I just like to use the podcast as a chance to just relax and release. And some of that, sometimes it comes in a glass of wine. That's all.

But I just want y'all to note that he was like, but I'm drinking a bottle of water over here. That's not what I got water? Remember, I know. I got to go run after this. Again? Yeah, I'm doing two runs. Oh, my God. Two runs a day until I'm not fat anymore.

So I saw myself in some videos And I'm like, yo, fam, I know we're on quarantine But at least 15 or 20 You gotta come down. Yeah, maybe more, man, maybe more. Maybe more. I want to see, don't judge. I want to see my abs.

I want to see, I've told this early. I want to see my abs. Do you do weights? Yeah, I do weights. Okay. Oh, that's right. You box and all that. You have a target?

I'm just making sure you don't have like body dysmorphia or something like that. I mean, we all kind of do too a bit. We're going to get, before I get excoriated and bear my soul again on this podcast, which I have a nearly cry moment every single time. We're going to get back to Joe Biden and Barack Obama. What I thought was interesting about this conversation. What I thought was interesting about this conversation is that, number one,

Vice President Biden, and I don't want Simone or anyone who might hear this to get mad, he actually looked sharp in this convoy, which was very important. He's sitting across from, it is, he's sitting across from one of the most articulate, don't get mad at me, Barack, intelligent, most academically accomplished presidents that we've ever had. And at least in an exchange of ideas that don't hold very much intellectual complexity, he seemed that he was with it, which, if we're being honest, for a lot of people out there, has been a major question when it comes to the vice president.

So that was a good sign. And also, I think the point of the video was to, remind people that even if Joe Biden, at his worst, was not going to be a great executive. He would restore some semblance of decency to the office because it seemed like that's what they talked about more than anything. They talked about that more than anything else. Well, to go towards the point that you're making about how great he looked and also how this was to show that he's not sleepy Joe, as his opponent calls him,

who was also in the media on his run talking about his cognitive skills and taking tests and constantly talking over and over and over about it. Yes, it was good to see Joe Biden in this light and to show that he is all there and he is capable, even if it was taped, who cares? He looked great. It was a good, from what I saw, it was a great conversation. and I think that it was necessary in light of the things that the Trump administration is trying to do to discredit Joe Biden. I'm assuming you like Barack Obama. Yeah, I like Barack. And I'm assuming that you're voting for Joe Biden. Yes, I am voting for Joe Biden.

Is it not a little troubling that you like the president, you're voting for Joe Biden, yet there was really nothing inside of you that made you wrong. run to your screen to watch a conversation between the two men. And the reason why I say that is because I worry about when it actually comes down to the come down if a lack of enthusiasm about Vice President Biden makes him vulnerable in November, in an election that barring some sort of massive sea change, he should win pretty easily. I mean, I honestly, no, it's not because I'm not enthused by Joe Biden. It's more of I didn't, I honestly really didn't have time to watch just to be 100% honest.

And two, I didn't think that I was going to hear anything different or new. I thought the purpose of it more was to affiliate him with Barack Obama. And I could see through that. So I felt I didn't need to watch it. There was nothing I was going to gain from that. and Joe Biden already has my vote at this point. So I'm not on the fence and need to be convinced. There may be people who that conversation was beneficial for,

but for me, it wasn't. It's not because I'm, like, disappointed that it's going to be Joe Biden. I mean, that I want it to be Joe Biden. Interesting something here. There were people that watch this and they're like, why can't Joe Biden pick Barack Obama for vice president? By the way, he can. He can.

Let me tell you the problem with that. let's say that Joe Biden picks Barack Obama for his vice president, right? He can totally do that. Barack Obama cannot be president again. Unconstitutional, two terms are out, buddy. So if something were to happen to Vice President Biden, who is not President Biden, if something were to happen to him, the line of succession for president would go to the Speaker of the House. Now, you guys are somewhere thinking right now, hey, that's not so bad.

that would be President Pelosi, which would be an interesting America. But that's not necessarily guaranteed if Democrats were to lose control of the House. The Speaker would change. And then the House Minority Leader right now is Kevin McCarthy. He would then become President of the United States of America. So you don't want an administration that has their agenda moving or has all of the stuff. And then all of a sudden, the president is one heartbeat away from exchanging that power to another party. So that would never happen.

I also learned in this interview, something else I didn't know is that Barack Obama's daughter and Joe Biden's granddaughter, not sure. They didn't specify our best friends. Oh, that's cute. It's very cute. That was the biggest bombs show. I laughed through the whole thing, man. I just laughed every time Obama said, And the thing I love about you, Joe, and this is the great thing about you, Joe.

And this is the, like, it was just, it was so obvious. I'm going to do something on this podcast that I don't ever do and will never do again. I am going to say something slightly positive about President Trump, slightly positive. Oh, what? If there is one thing, one thing to admire about President Trump is that he is so comically, comically dense that he has no choice but to be exactly who he is all the time. And that alone is something that bothers me about a lot of politicians. a lot of politicians, I can see the political speak wafting off of them before what they really believe even gets near me. And the waft a lot of times stops me from even being able to connect with them.

And I would rather Joe Biden or somebody else be exactly who they are, be prone to some gaffs, then try to negotiate every single sentence. I'll tell you something. What you just praised President Trump for is the reason he's in office right now. That is what people held on to. By the way, it wasn't praise. I said,

admiration, because you did use it. I didn't say that. You said there's one thing I could admire him for. Excuse me that I changed the word. Did I say, did I say admire? I don't think I said admire. Jordan, I don't think I don't think I don't. I don't think I said admire.

I said, no, no, no, whoa, whoa, I never said I admire. I said, if they. is one thing to admire him for. Okay. Okay. I didn't say that I did. I said if there was. Man, this is not semantics.

You ain't going to do it to me. The admiration you just spoke of towards President Trump is the reason that he's in office. That is what people love. They love that he wasn't the politician, the typical politician. He was who he is. He stood by it. He and he didn't back down from it. And they wanted that no nonsense president.

And that's the reason that he is your president. right now. It's a gift and a curse. I would rather, I don't know, I don't know, I would rather not Trump for sure because that same thing people loved about him is the reason that they hate him today. Right. I would rather a president, any president, speak what's truly on their mind and on their heart, but I would whether that not be vicious, vile, racism, classism, elitism, xenophobia, and all of that stuff and just rank in competence

at all time. So I want you to speak, but I just want you to be the right man or woman, woman or man, for the job. Now, there's a very serious issue that is happening right now in one of America's most interesting cities. Have you ever been to Portland

before? I actually haven't. Have you? No. But I think, tell you why I say it's one of the most interesting cities. Because I watch the Food Network. And if you watch the Food Network, Portland got it cracking as far as his food is concerned, man. Portland got great donuts. Portland's one of the best food cities in America.

It's fact. You don't know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I'm laughing. You know what I'm laughing.

You know, like, you're laughing at me. I hate food shows because it's not, it doesn't appeal to me because I can't eat the food. I don't want to watch all this good looking food and there's nothing I can do about. I don't understand the appeal. I really don't. But go ahead. It's a weird, that's a weird thing to say. You can see the food and then if you're ever in Portland, you can get the food.

Or you can see the food and then go out and get some food like it in your own town. I'm about to make you upset again. I'm not a foodie. I'm not a foodie. I'm very picky. I'm a person who eats to survive. I'm not a person who's just like, oh my God, I'm craving this. I eat because I'm like, yeah, I probably should eat.

I've only eaten a little bit today. Or, yeah, it's probably healthier if I add this into my meal. That's me. So do you don't have like a favorite food? Yeah, probably like a Wingstop or something. But not, I'm not, right? Hey, hey, win stop. Try to get that sponsorship.

Now, Portland, back to Portland, like a lot of reasons to love Portland, but specifically a reason to keep your eye on Portland right now is I'm sure we're not going to break the news to anyone that what's happening in Portland right now is incredibly important but also a really defining moment in my opinion in American culture

for a lot of reasons. Now, just to run it down to you guys, there have been protests that have been going on in Portland, for a while now, and these protests have largely been peaceful and largely come from a very diverse, swath of the citizens of residence there. Everyone, you're seeing moms out there.

I saw one lady out there that was protesting that was actually a county commissioner that was out there sort of making the, yeah, absolutely. It's been really a beautiful thing to see the way the city has come together. And really in places, unlike other places where a lot of the protesting has sort of quieted down, Portland seems to have gotten a lot louder, okay? Wow. Since then, since these movements have been happening there, there have been, there's been a mobilization of basically a secret police made up of different agencies that fall under Homeland Security that if you ask me, are wholesale violating the civil rights and the right to protest and the right to assemble of American citizens.

And they're doing so without identifying themselves, without telling anyone who they are. who they report to. We don't know in complete and total anonymity, should I say. Complete and total anonymity and dragging people off the streets into unmarked

vans. Yo, this is wild. This is 1939 Germany style. This is authoritarian autocrat-style government that was happening in a major American

city where it seems like the lawlessness that we are watching is completely on behalf of the governmental officials that are carrying it out. It's crazy. It's, man, it's insane. It's a scene out of a movie, a movie I was probably not allowed to watch. Right. It's, okay, do you watch The Handmaid's Tell? Of course. Okay. When Handmaid's Tell came out, And everybody was talking about it. You watched it because it was entertaining.

And you were like, no way could this happen in America. It is so outrageous. But if you watch the Handmaid's Telling, as you go from season to season, and this is not spoilers, you learn that this didn't just happen. It happened over time. There were little things that happened that shocked people, but they continued to happen where it became normalized. And you just thought, oh, okay, but it's never going to be bigger than that,

until you're living in this type of world. There's a book that I read in quarantine called the, not the Vox. You know, black people love to put a thee in front of certain things. Yeah. It's just called Vox. Right.

Box. It's a very good book, and it is a present day handmade sale. And it's the same type of thing. And it's about the government getting extreme. And slowly, but surely,

you start to see the rights of the American citizens being taken away. You need to pay attention to what has happened. right now. Don't let, don't get complacent by it. Don't say that this is just one thing that's happening in a city. Don't, you need to be shocked. The shock value needs to stay there because your president is talking about implementing this into other cities. He just said earlier today that he would.

He's playing on going to Chicago. Operation legend, I think it's called. Chicago, I've heard Albuquerque and I've heard why, I didn't even know anything with Big was happening in Albuquerque. I saw something like that. And I saw something else. And New York as well. So you need to pay attention. It's happening. And it's crazy to me that President Trump can complain about the fake news media using propaganda, you know, to get out their message. But yet that's exactly what that administration is doing by claiming that Portland is a war zone. They're showing certain things that are misleading as to what is actually happening on the streets of Portland. The governor of Oregon does not want these officials, the Department of Homeland Security there. The senators don't want them there.

What's happening is that there have been protests every day. We're going on 50 plus days now since George Floyd. And majority of them have been nonviolent and peaceful. And President Trump is using some isolated incidents, some that happened with anti-government people that weren't even related to the protests and using that to justify what he is doing. He is violating the rights of American citizens. You need to wake up. You need to pay attention to what's happening.

You need to be bothered by it. And the reason that protests are continuing in Portland, and they're going up and up again, is because it is in protest to what is happening right now with these people taking them and putting them in unmarked vans, with this military force coming against them. The protests were actually dwindling down, but now they're protesting against what's happening to them

because they are being violated. I'm telling you guys, wake up. She's absolutely right. You're getting your bag, Big Rache. Like, you're absolutely right. A couple of things here. Number one, the reach of the federal government is, the reach of the federal government here is particularly troubling.

Normally, the right fancies themselves to be the party of limited government and complete limited government and transparent, all of that stuff, right? They want to make sure that you have your liberty as Americans. The libertarians and the far right radicals who say freedom over everything, who say, I am free so I don't want to wear a mask? Where are you now when the rights of Americans are being trampled by guys who aren't even paying attention to the basic tenets of the Constitution? Where are you now?

Everybody out there, right? Everybody out there who uses the Second Amendment as a shield to go and buy a rocket launcher and say, I'm free to have it. It's lawful. I got to be able to protect myself. Why haven't I seen these same militia groups? on the street when the government is actually doing what they feared that the government would do, which is imposed its will on the American public.

I don't see any of that. It's weird. It's almost as if it's all bullshit. Okay? That and then there are other questions. There are questions about how the president is actually using this. One of the most important things that you just said is that, The notion that Portland is on fire is a lie.

Portland is actually not on fire. Not even close. Do you know how I know Portland's not on fire? I did another podcast earlier this week. That podcast is called Way Down in the Hole. It's a rewatch. Not early this week, earlier today. Way down in the hole.

It's a rewatch of the Y. It's a great podcast here on The Ring. It's me and Jamel Hill. Watch every Tuesday and Thursday. Listen. Subscribe way down in a hole that's here on the Ringer and Spotify podcast. Now, I do a day. do a different podcast.

Someone had to sit in today on that podcast our regular producer was out. The guy that said in today's guy named Dylan, shout out to Dylan. Dylan is in Portland right now. It's a producer. And I asked him, I was like, yo, man, you know, how are you?

You okay? Things going well, you know, how are things there? He goes, oh, actually, I'm totally fine. He's like, that's actually all happening in one concentrated area. He's like, I never go down there. I never see it. Everything here. is completely and totally normal. That is not for me to diminish the importance of the uprisings and the protests that are

happening in Portland. What I'm saying is that there's a false narrative that is being used to give the president the impetus or the excuse is a better word that he needs to go into American cities, stop his boot on them, and then use it to horse trade for political leverage and gain come November. He wants to be the law and order guy and we are going to suffer for that.

There's nothing in Portland that could not have already been figured out if the officials there and the public safety officials there were committed to de-escalating and actually empowering the people that are there. So you guys have to watch this totally

because I don't want to go too far with it. But guys, this is the way society's end. I promise you, and if you don't listen to anything else that we talk about,

that I talk about, on higher learning, big rage has our own opinions. It's not a we, it's a we, but it's also individual. Listen to this. It can end.

It can. It could end. I hear you. America, three months from now, six months from now, a year from now, could be in the middle of a civil war that is both bloody, completely economically disastrous, and threatens the very future of the country. Everything you know could be over.

And it's a very important, and it's not like it would be the first time it's happened in history. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened this year to a country. This happens all the time. Anyone who thinks it can't happen to us, you're crazy. Decide what kind of country you want to live in. And who needs to be held accountable for you to live there? But this is really wild and very, very troubling. Yeah.

No, you really, you have to pay attention to what's going on. When I was listening, you talk about declaring war and using it for political gain. It just reminds me of, you know, around 1982 about the war on drugs. You know, it just reminds me about all of that. That's another topic. But you need to pay attention to who it is that's going into these, or Portland right now and putting people in unmarked cars. It's the Department of Homeland Security. Do you know what they do?

They fight foreign enemies. Right. Now they are turning and fighting American citizens. Well, the Department of Homeland Security will protect the homeland even from a domestic threat as well. Okay, but, okay, fine, from a domestic threat. but this isn't a domestic threat. No. If you were coming to assist and help with crime that's happening,

but not to fight against peaceful protesters and to make it seem like something violent is happening that is nonviolent, you know, attacking mothers who are supporting protesters, attacking people just standing there. You've got to pay attention to what's going on. That's all I'll say. That's all I'll say on that.

I put you like this. Okay, so I just want to make sure you guys know what the other side is saying. So the Department of Homeland Security, is saying that what they're doing is lawful. And I'll tell you how they're saying that it's lawful. All right. So, U.S. Code 1315 says that the Department of Homeland Security

can deputize and assist agents in protecting federal property. What that means is that anytime they think federal property, if it's the federal building over here on Wilshire, if it's in danger, they can deputize anybody and send them out there. The question then becomes, where does taking somebody off the street and putting them in an unmarked car correlate or relate to protecting federal property? They then come back with this. They say that agents are allowed to conduct investigations that are intertwined in the exercise of protecting federal property. That is what they are saying.

I'm letting you know that that is. what they're going to stand on, and I'm telling you that that is complete and utter bullshit. Total bullshit. Department of Homeland Security does not have the right to come into an American city, take a protester without identifying themselves, and put them into an unmarked car, and detain them. Right. That is, to me, in clear, I'm not a law scholar. That is to me in clear breach of one civil rights.

And guys, if this is where we're going, if this is what we're going to be dealing with, then we really need to reassess in a very short amount of time how much we're willing to accept as the American electorate, as American citizens, I mean, quickly. Because this is full on, this is the, scary shit and to know that it's going to spread now and to know that it's part of an election strategy by the president. That's what I was going to say. Exactly. It's a performance. It all plays

into his law and order. This is what he's doing. This isn't because of something he believes is a true domestic threat or a problem that's happening. It is all to play into a performance of I am fighting law and order and Joe Biden isn't. That is that is pretty much everything that he's saying and you have to pay attention to that. That's why he continues to lie in the media. That is why he's not continuing. He was corrected very recently by Chris Wallace about saying that Joe Biden doesn't believe in that. That's actually not true.

And that's why you need to pay attention and research these things for yourself. Do not take everything that people are telling you is face value. This is a performance. That's all, it's a performance. Right. There you go.

Now, let's talk about something. You guys, we are going to check back with what's going on in Portland and what's going to Chicago, every single podcast. And we are going to make it a point here on higher learning to talk to people on the ground in all of these cities so that they can then tell you with nothing in between them

what the realities on the ground are. That's how important I believe to be this. Listen, we're going to have big-time guests on the show, people who you guys love, shows you have to watch, singers that you love to hear, all of that is coming. But what we are going to make sure that we do here on this podcast is have you guys educated to the realities that are going on in these different American cities were really the fabric and the foundation of what it means to be a free American is being tested

every second of every day. Okay. So we're going to make sure that we do that and that we keep you guys tethered and connected to that. Now time for a little bullshit. I was involved in something. I was, okay, listen. I wasn't directly involved. Oh, yes, you were.

I don't think I was directly involved. Okay, well, go ahead. Tell you story. Directly involved. Tell your story. Shout out to Stilo Brim, Sterling, my man, ridiculousness. Sterling's hilarious guy has a great podcast called the Wine and Weed podcast that I was on this past Saturday in which I partook in both wine and weed. It was a very, very fun time.

Is that like a requirement? to be on the show? You didn't have to. By the other? Okay. No, it's wind, but you don't have to. But you know what?

I also felt play because when I was doing the podcast, they were starting to, you know, break the weed down and hand it to everybody and stuff like that. And they didn't pass me any week.

And I was like, feelings that got hurt. Yeah. It's like, all of a sudden it's eighth grade again. Van can't come. Chubby boy can't play. I'm like,

I'm like, why didn't you pass me? Oh, come on, van. You woke and, you know, you upstanding. all of that. You don't want to do it. I'm like, man, just give me the weed and let me prove myself.

That's how I feel every time we podcast. Oh, shut up. But Sterling Stilo Brim was, shout out to ridiculousness, was, is the host of this podcast and his guest host on this particular podcast was Drea Michelle. Now, if you guys do not know who Drey

Michelle is. She is a model, actress, swimwear designer, and formerly on the cast of basketball wives, Los Angeles. Drea has over like 8 million followers on the old Instagram. She is known for in the past making saucy comments. She's known for a lot of things. I. During this interview, the conversation turned to Megan the Stallion and Torrey Lane. story that we have covered here on higher learning. Andrea said this. I predict that they had some sort of Bobby and Whitney love that, you know,

drove them down this snapped-esque type of road. And I'm here for it. I like that. I want you to like me so much you shoot me in a foot too. But as long what? Wait, no, that is very dreyer like drop a grenade. What the, you want you what? I want you to like me so much

that if I'm trying to get out the car and you're like, no, sit your fucking ass in the car and I'm like, no, nigga, I'm fucking getting out the car. No, you're not. Bob, Bob. Wow. You're going to fucking shit out of that, nigga. In this moment, Drea just went viral.

Yeah. Now notice, first of all, fucking yikes. But notice, as soon as she said it, I jumped in. Let her know. I don't know if you guys watched the whole clip, told her she was going to go viral, tried to walk her out of it.

What did you say? Because I didn't see the whole clip. I saw you have a big reaction. So I knew you were like, whoa, what the fuck did you just say? But I need to know the rest. There's an entire two-minute clip. And the entire two-minute clip,

you know, Drea says what she says. And I feel like she's just joking or whatever. And then I say, no, you don't really mean that. And she goes, no, I mean, kind of what I'm into. I'm like, come on now. And basically that's where I was out. I was like, you wouldn't want to see anyone do violence against you.

What I was trying to get her to say, or not even get her to say, let's make sure it was articulated, sometimes there's a certain energy that women like to be around. Like there was a versus bell last night with DMX. And I remember everybody was on DMX when he first came out because there's an energy around, right? An energy that DMX has, ugh, the dude. Love it.

Love it. You couldn't tell me I wasn't a rough rider. Right, right? But you don't want DMX to actually shoot you. Right? And you don't want to ever feel like he's going to actually shoot you. I was trying to get Dreya, who by the way can speak for herself. Those are her thoughts to say that.

But she didn't. And they kicked her motherfucking ass on Twitter. And not just they, but Meg the Stallion, who was actually friends with Dreya, tweeted about it, called Dreya a dumb bitch, and said that Dreya was laughing at her getting shot. You are the woman of the house here on higher learning. I defer to your all-encompassing knowledge and wisdom. So I first met Dreia on Basketball Wise.

Love the show. Okay. I'm a reality TV junkie. Right. So I would expect nothing less from Dreya. than to make that type of comment. I don't have any standards really when it comes to Drea. So that, that, I mean, I'm, I'm going to be 100% honest,

and I feel like I can be that way based on how she responded to that situation. Okay? Nobody else made a comment like that. When I heard it, it wasn't funny. It wasn't clever. It wasn't sexy. It wasn't cute. I don't know what she was trying to do, but it didn't work.

And the problem, what I got so upset in hearing her, make that type of comment. I was like, she is such a silly rabbit. That she thought, she was. She was. She is. I'm sorry. She thought that that was a cute statement.

And it was problematic in so many ways. We're in a culture right now where we're talking about getting respect for black women. Well, why haven't black women gotten respect for so many years? Partly is that black, some black women allow black men to treat them a certain way. Drea's comment falls Dreya's comment falls right into that I want to do to love me so hard he wants to shoot me in the foot twice

I want that Bobby and Whitney type of love do you remember what happened with Bobby and Whitney that's who you're going to compare the type of love that you want to maybe that's why you were single right now that is not a goal that is not something we should be striving for and the fact that you made light of a very violent situation which was an attack I don't know the full details but from what we know so far was an attack against

a black woman. I don't know who, how, what happened. And the fact that you tried to make that and to seem like it was something sexy when there are people that follow you who look up to you, who see you as a businesswoman, an actress, a model, and those things. And that's the kind of comment that you were going to make is so reckless. That's why I call her a silly rabbit. I just, I know she has known to make off the cuff comments like that before, but I really think that she thought it was a sexy statement. Like she wants this, this, this somebody to love her so hard. He wants to be violent against her.

But I just really need her to understand the depth of how problematic that is. We don't need to be an advocate for violence, especially violence against women. It's just so wrong on so many levels. And the fact that she couldn't read the room and know not to say that type of thing, she deserves to be dragged in every single way that she can because it's not like she said it and tried to retract. she doubled down on it. No, like this is what, no, no, no, like, that's what I really mean. That's the type of love that I really want.

I want him to love me so hard. He almost kills me. Just sit back and think about that for a second. What the fuck does that even mean? That's your friend. Okay. First of all, for a damn, right? First of all.

I just hate when women do stuff like that. Well, well, okay, okay, first of all, so I want to speak to that real quick. I want to speak to that real quick. I'm going to say, I'm going to take responsibility for something. This is what I'm going to take responsibility for it. Number one, as a man, I'm going to push back on something that you said earlier. As far as black women are concerned, black women don't bear any of the responsibility of the

brunt of the way black man treat them, right? Just want to make sure, just want to make sure we get that out there. Because as I got to hold my brothers accountable to treat sisters better, right? And I can't blame a woman or anybody in any relationship for the way that they are being treated. That's not what I'm saying. I know, I just want to make sure that we're clear. I know you're not saying. I'm just, I'm not excusing black men. No, yes. Go ahead. Or any man, any man who are mistreated women, right? So it's going to be, so if any woman,

if anybody thinks a certain way about black women, the opinion of black women in America comes back to the way that they, it's far-reaching and very historic in the way that they've been commodified. overlooked and and really pounded on in America. I'm going to ask you a question for the man sitting in that room, right? So understanding,

she says that and she's saying that about herself, right? I haven't taken any heed for it and I don't think that I shouldn't take any heed for it. No, but what I'm asking you is, as the man in the room, because if there are other women in the room, that's what thing, as the man in the room, is it appropriate for me to tell, that she's wrong about the way she feels about something.

I'm asking this sincerely because what I'm saying is she says she likes something that's toxic and really unhealthy. She didn't recommend it for all women. She didn't say that love is better like that. She didn't say that things are better like that. She says that's what she likes, right? I like that type of shit. I'm here for that type of shit.

Being a woman in that room, you can, but being a man in that room, honest question, how do you attack? that trying to make sure that we don't propagate, like, ideas that violence against women is cool. I think the same way that you're saying she was saying that's what she wants, that she wants. I think the pushback should have been like, okay, you're saying that, but they're going to be women that are listening to this podcast. You know, what would you say that statement, how can that be, that can be taken a certain

way where it's representative as to what women want? Don't you think that that statement is a little problematic advocating for that type of love? You want a man to disrespect you. You want a man to not value your. your life where he puts your life in harm because he loves you that hard. That's not what love is. That's disrespectful. You don't value me.

You want to pull the trigger and pop me twice and not know what happens. Like that's not love. That's not love period. I don't even believe her when she says it. I think that's even more so what's troubling. You don't mean that. You don't really want a man to shoot you twice to show he loves you. You were trying to be funny.

And I think that is why you saw the extreme reaction as well. Nobody believes that Drea wants a man to shoot her. I said that on the podcast. I'm like, you don't really think that. She doesn't. I was like, you don't really want to see violence against a black woman. You don't want to see violence against a lady. You don't want to be with somebody that you think could shoot you.

You don't really want. I said, you're just doing the whole playing the character thing. And I mean, she would. Okay, but what, okay, what character is she playing? A silly rabbit. Like, that's, it's just, who has that type of conversation? I just, I just, I, I, that's, she got the reaction. I don't know if she wanted the attention.

I don't know if she really thought she was going to get the reaction she did, but she deserved it. And people will be a comment on it. They'll go off on it. They'll move on and she'll be fine. She'll post a fire picture on Instagram. She'll get a bunch of likes and comments and everything will be normal again until she makes another dumbass comment. You shading the shit out of Dreher right now. Listen, I got to be honest with you.

And I'm not normally down for putting down women. Let me just say this. I am not a person who's like, let me just, oh, this woman made a mistake. Let me put her down. But you did not represent for women in the comment that you made. So I feel like I need to address that. And I have to comment you for saying that the way that you did. I'm sorry.

So let me ask you this. I spoke to her yesterday, right? I spoke to her yesterday. I checked in just because, right? How far does it go? because she has a brand line with Savage Exfancy. I don't know if you call it a brand line. An endorsement deal.

She's a brand ambassador with Savage Fenty. Give it to me. See? See what I'm saying? That's why I be talking about. No, but see what I'm saying? No, you meant that shit. Like, see, I'm telling y'all, man,

it's something that be going on. It's something that goes on. People get in trouble. Like, you can't tell me that when Nick got in trouble, that it wasn't people that was polishing up their resumes and calling their age. like, yo, see if they want somebody to come host while or not. That happens.

I'm telling you. See? That's why you was on there because you want to be down with Savage Finn. I'm supposed to fire picture tomorrow on my Instagram. It's such a cruel world, man. No, but no, really, what were you saying, though? How far did it go? What I was saying is that there were a bunch of people who tagged the brand and then tagged the video and then to the point that Savage Fenty, which is, of course, Rihanna's brand, shout out to Rihanna,

replied and said, we're aware of this situation, as if intimating that they might make a move. What's a moral issue? That's what everybody's clause. It's moral turpitude. And obviously when you consider who Rihanna is and some of the things that she's been through. Thank you.

Right. So what I'm asking you is this. Is that, in your opinion, is that too far? Drea apologized on both her Twitter. she did. She apologized on Twitter and on the gram yesterday and when I spoke to her when I spoke to her

she seemed very blindsided by the entire thing. I am making absolutely zero excuses for she said what she said. But the question is and the question we should all be asking ourselves and we, God damn it, everybody is fucking up. Like you don't see the apology. Where's the apology?

It was posted. Oh, on her story that'll disappear in 24 hours. A 24 hour apology? Did you look at, did you look on? Everybody apologizes on stories. I'm so, I'm so,

and I'm again, I'm a person, it's a 24 hour apology because it'll disappear and go into the ether and nobody knew that. If you hadn't told me that, I would have looked and been like,

oh, she didn't even apologize. You get what I'm saying. I do. I do. And also, by the way, I understand why everybody was upset. And I said it in the moment.

I said, you're going viral. You did. You had an extreme reaction. I said, I said, you're, I knew that people were going to react to that in a way. Now, the entire podcast was legitimately one of the most fun podcasts I've ever been a part of.

It was very funny. We really touched on a lot of important things. But it's just like that got, I knew that it would trend. But at one point, she was at like 80,000 tweets. Like, it was really, really going up. Also because Megan responded. So it brought even more attention to it. So to answer your question about is it going too far, I am not a proponent of cancel culture.

I will, I will, I genuinely believe that all people make mistakes. You hold them accountable for what we do. And there are some certain repercussions that you have as a result of the mistake that you made. And rightfully so. But do I think that we should absolutely cancel her? No. However, she has had problematic behavior before. So it's like, I'm making.

maybe not to this level, but I'm just saying, I wouldn't be surprised if in a few months we hear something else. I also am not a fan of people who doubled down on a statement they make, and then as soon as they realize, oh, wait, the public didn't like it, now it's time to apologize. I'm not a fan of that because I don't really believe your apology because you gave her the chance to retract it and she doubled down. But if the result out of all of this is that she does lose her contract with Savage Fenty because of the comments that she made and because it is in complete contrast to what Rihanna stands for, then I understand it and it's a result. But I don't, I wouldn't tell people to cancel her and cancel her on all fronts, but she should

be held accountable for what it is that she did. Hmm. It was stupid. It was stupid. It was very, very swift. So she's going to be on the podcast next week? Who, uh, the Wine and We podcast? Oh, she can be on our podcast. I guess next week. Drea can pull up whenever she wants. I mean, as far as I'm concerned,

it'll you, look, we have to have, we have to have here on higher learning. We have to be in unison about wanting the guests to come on. Okay? Like that time you tried to get Heather B to come on. And I was like,

I don't think that she should come on the podcast. So it was like, we don't have a whole windmill section on the podcast. But you, she could come on. Would you, would you want to talk? to Drea face to face about some of the things that you just said?

Do you feel like it's that big of a deal? I would totally say. Anything that I say here, I would say face to face. You're talking that shit. I love it. I would say face to face to her, but I think that she would have to accept it in light of the comments that she made, right? Like, she could have a chance.

She could defend herself. She could say what she was really thinking when you question her and she doubled down on it. She could talk about all of that. but I stand by everything that I just said because I just, she's not the only person who acts like that. I've seen people do it and I just hate it. Again, I'm not excusing men

who treat women a certain way, but let's also not give them a reason to. See, I don't like that. Like, we don't need a reason. You don't need a reason, but do you understand what I'm saying? It's like, it's like, I'm trying to think of something else to compare it to. But don't say that that,

That's what you want from a man. And then if a man does it, that's what you requested. Don't do that. That's problematic behavior because you don't want them to take that to the next person. I'm not, that would be their fault if they did, but I'm just saying, don't give them a reason. And that reason being you're allowing it. Okay. Last night was the versus battle between DMX and Snoop.

You didn't watch it. I was working. I was working. Rachel didn't watch the versus battle. Okay, so since Rachel didn't watch the versus battle. But please tell me about it because I love DMX. No, no, it's like I got to be honest with you. I'm glad.

I'm glad you didn't watch it. What have you been doing? You've been doing a lot of stuff. Working. I started filming again. I filmed three times a week. So I was working late last night. And again, there's a time difference.

I know, I know. But like, we got to be on top of shit, Rach. I am on top of it. But I'm, because didn't the versus battle started like six? Something like that, six or seven. And I was like, what happened? It was started late. I was working until almost 9 o'clock at night.

I was pissed. I wanted to see it. I'm a man of two worlds. You want to know? You want to know how? How? I'm a man of two worlds. I watch the versus battle while I was on the driving range.

I can't do it. I'm a man of two worlds. I literally was at the driving range, hitting some golf balls, trying to be an elitist upper class, trying to do what the cultural elites, the coastal elites do. You know what I mean? We make deals on a golf course while watching the versus battle.

You know what I mean? multitasking. I mean, actually this. Cool. You didn't see it. That's almost better. Versus battle. DMX versus Snoop Dog.

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Services not available in all areas. I would say Snoop, but I feel like I'd be more excited for DMX. Because we see Snoop all the time. He's also become commercialized in a way with the whole Martha Stewart thing. He's very available. but DMX is not. So I'm already down for DMX. If he would get my vote without even seeing it,

because I haven't seen you in forever. So I'm just like craving some DMX energy. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. So I put you like this. Anytime you have a versus battle with these two monumental greats, it's the culture that wins.

And that is very true. But if we're talking about track for track in the actual competition, who won Snoop, fucking washed X. Of course. And anybody anybody who says

any differently is from Yonkers. Like Snoop washed X. He really did. He really did. And by the way, the thing that I love about

the versus battles more than anything is that it made me re-appreciate just how fucking amazing Snoop is. But I want to ask you a question surrounded by the versus battle. In watching and listening to the versus battle last night, I feel like some of the ladies were in a weird position.

Why? Because what do you play? We are in, he played it all. He played it all. But we are in an elevated time where we are transformed. And looking back at the transgressions of old as having contributed to a culture of patriarchy and misogyny. And these songs were fucking rough. I haven't listened to Bishes ain't shit in a long time. But man, oh man. Wow. Like, you know what I'm saying?

Or bitches ain't shit or ain't no fun. More to the point, ain't no fun if the homies can't have. them. Right. Like, and I was on Twitter and there were girls on there like, yo, this massagenistic shit is fucking fire. Actually, because it's almost like you separate it. Who said that?

Bringo mass president said that. And like, she was like, she was being funny, but she was also being very vulnerable in real. And she was like, yo, I am such a hypocrite. Because those songs slap so much. But that's a part of the culture that created some of the problem. So like, what are you? do you know what because i guess when i hear those songs which i get it i get the what you're torn

with and what you're wrestling with in your head i always separated it right i always thought it's just a song you just wrote those lyrics you don't really mean that i think that's i think that's what you do to enjoy the song you don't really you don't really do that rachel i got bad i got bad news for you. You wouldn't do that to me. I got bad news for you, Rachel. They meant that shit. I know they did.

But I think that's what you try to do in your head because it does. I love both those songs. I'm sorry, I do. So I get how you're torn between the two of them. Isn't that just a wild thing? It's like even X. It's dark and hell is hot. There's a lyric on there.

There's a lyric on there that is the wild. thing is one of the wildest things I've ever heard a rapper say. I'm not even going to bring it up because I don't want to start anything for X, but it's like one of the wildest things I've ever heard a rapper say ever, ever, ever

on it's dark and hell is hot on that. And we go back and I understand it. We're putting the context of 1997 or 98 when it came out and the character the X was playing and just the whole culture. But listening to the songs now, it's not that I don't love them. I ran to the

playlist this morning. I'm going to run to the place. I'm going to finish the playlist when I run tonight. Love them. Love both of those guys. But man, man, I want, it was a really interesting cultural experience because you see so many people deriding misogyny and deriding the patriarchy, but some patriarchy and misogyny over one of Dr. Dre beats, and it seemed like it's a little different. It's just weird. It is weird. It's, I don't know how you separate it. I mean, I remember in the DMX a Cisco song What they really want

I wanted my name to be in it and that song Yeah I mean like you wanted to feel cool about three Rachel's okay By the way

the name of that song What she said What they really want Cosby Kid Alert The name of that song is I was trying to edit it for the The name of this That song is

What these bitches Want from a nigga I know what it is And by the way That's an amazing song. I know. I know. Cisco was in his back, too, man.

Shout out Cisco. Shout out to Cisco, for real. All of Drew Hill. Like, shout out to Drew Hill. But it's, so you don't ever feel like that there's a point to where we should turn our back on the music. I have to, like, really pause about that. Okay. the first thing I thought about when you said that is

we're in a point where we're tearing down other things in history because they were problematic and they represent something that was very detrimental to a group of people. So how do you say, how do you differentiate that from the music if it hurts a certain group of people as well? We're all hypocrites. Well, we are.

I mean, I can't, I'm not even going to pretend like, No, there's no other word. I could. I'm not even going to pretend like I'm going to one day. It's just so, it's a really incredible. Because you feel detached from it, man. I do. I feel detached.

I'm listening to it, but it's just something I'm listening to. I'm not adopting this mentality. People know this is just a song. I know I make all the excuses in the world. It's wrong. But I got to be wrong with you, though. And it, I want to believe that about myself. I really do.

But the reality is that I know it's not true. I know it influenced me. It's something I had to unlearn it. I did. I had to unlearn it. Yo, in 1997, 1998, P and Jay and all of those guys, they looked like the coolest guys in the world.

They did. When they were pouring champagne, all models in Hey Poppy, Dame and Jay, it's not like I want, wanted to, it's not like I looked at it and I admired it. Part of my thing was I wanted to get to a place where I could too do that. And this is why certain artists, who I'm not going to mention anymore, meant so much to me is because when those guys came out and they started rapping and really making rap, they were making rap for the guy who I knew I could be.

See, I knew that I could never be the dope dealer or the dude that all the girls wanted to have sex with on a private jet spraying champagne on people. I aspired to it, but I knew that that wasn't really going to happen. But then that other guy, I felt like him. So going back and looking at the way the music influenced me is, sure, I listen to the music for entertainment. Sure, I listen to it, but I took cultural cues from hip-hop. Yeah. I really did. I took cultural cues from hip hop.

Hip hop taught me how to dress. Hip hop taught me how people in New York were dressing, how people in Cali were dressing, how people in Miami were dressing. So if I was going on a trip to Daytona Beach or to Miami, I would dress like Trick Daddy and them, man. That's crazy. I would.

I would. I had to poloos to me, girl, you know what I'm saying? Well, I wouldn't dress it like Trina, though. So I was not. So I think that that's, It's funny because I listen to the songs and I never was like, I don't know, maybe it's different for women.

I never, maybe I wanted to be in a music video because I thought that was cool. So maybe it did have some influence on me. I always wanted to be in a music video. Really? I did. It's not too late. Not dancing, but like the girl riding in the car,

the girl they were trying to get. You know what I mean? So maybe it did have an influence on me in that regard, but I never was like, man, I want a man to treat me like that. I never, I never felt that. You know what we're going to do, Rach? We're going to start something right here right now. What?

You, in the short time we've been doing this together, you have really become like a sister to me. You have. And I don't want you to continue to live your life and not have something that obviously means so much to you. So we're going to start a movement right now to get Big Rache in the music video. we want big we we want big rach to be the vixen the tasteful vixen yes right in the car hashtag hashtag

tasteful vixen but i want an a list you want an alice rapper i don't want just anybody being like oh yeah you could be in my video no no no okay so let's like when you say a list what's what's what's the a list of rap it could be rm b no no okay it's got to be rap okay it's got to be rap Like, oh, you could do an August Alcina video. I mean, that would be... I'm a pass. No, no, August Alcina. Who...

What's the A list? So, I'm going to throw out some rappers. You tell me whether or not they're A list, okay? Okay. Rick Ross. A. A list. Okay.

Big Sean. A. Sean is A list. Bawa. How far of the letters are we going down? That was for nothing. You took a shot at Shad for nothing right there. Oh, but I love Bavisle.

back in the day. You took a shot at Shat. You said it. You said it and you know why. His time is past. That nigger is 32. But I liked him as when he was a kid, you know? We grew up together.

We grew up in the game together. Okay. So, yeah, hashtag tasteful vixen. Yeah. All other thought warriors. We have a job to do. Okay. And we got plenty of time because they're not going to really start these productions for a while.

But I could be in a woman's video too. You know what I mean? We could have a whole bachelorette theme. We could have a whole theme. Now you're going too far. You know, we're going to do it regular. Like think about Lizzo. Lizzo could be the bachelorette.

Lizzo could be the bachelor. And I could be giving her. You know what I mean? So much smarter than me. Yeah, we could be, we could have this whole thing going. Y'all make it go viral. Hashtag tasteful vixen. We're going to get Rachel Lindsay in one of these videos.

Now, before we get to Unexper, the ally of the week. I want to ask you, did you watch any NBA basketball? I did not. I feel like I didn't turn on TV this week. I don't want to watch a scrimmage, Van. Did you watch? I'm sorry, when the season starts, we can talk. I don't want to see a scrimmage. This is what we're going to do. Bowl, bowls gone viral. I don't want to see it. This is what we're going to do. Rache, throw a topic out there. Something that you got a chance to watch this week. Just throw a topic out there, Rach.

I legit. I really think I didn't watch TV this week unless it was Morning Joe or the View. Right. Morning Joe or the View. Just real quick. We'll do this. How are things on the View? Is Megan angry?

Megan was good. Today from what I saw, Megan was really good. Megan was good. Ah. I did that. That's a double thing. Yeah, you did. Tell me about basketball, though.

Tell me about the scrimmage. Tell me about that AAU tournament. Okay, so it looked like an AAU tournament. I know. First of all, I will say this. Kudos to the NBA for being able to have some semblance of production value. It looked sort of cool. It didn't look like a full arena, but they used a black backdrop.

And there was an aesthetic to it. Part of what I was worried about was like, we have things in our mind, right? and everybody knows it. You know what I'm saying? Everybody, your mind knows. Your body knows. So when you're at a Laker Clipper game, right, it's the same arena with NBA talent on the court.

When you walk in, you automatically feel a difference. Obviously because they drop the lights in the Staple Center when the Lakers are playing. But like, your mind knows. So I was afraid that I would look at the game on TV and my mind would be like, that's not real basketball.

That's not real NBA basketball. That's not the feel. That's not the rhythm. That's not that. But it wasn't like that. it really felt like we're going to get a decent end to our season. It's been March since they've played. It seems like fucking four years ago.

Well, they had the shortened quarters and everything. How did that go? Didn't they play 10? Then they move it to 10 minutes? Or did I make that part of? No, I don't remember to be honest with you, but it's exposition. But it looked fine. Everything was fine.

Paul George was in his bag. I watched a lot of different stuff. It looked to me. It looked like real basketball. Bowl, it looked great. Denver started this gigantic. lineup and now I'm losing. That was a steal. That was a steal. The fact

that they picked him up so late in the second round, I'm just saying. I mean, I make a joke about Bo Bo Bo, but truly that was a steal for the Nuggets. Don't try to come in here and act like you know what's going on now. Can I do? Oh, see, you know, I know that tidbit. Talking about, yeah, now you even watch the shit and now you're like, oh,

Boa Bow has incredible wingspan and a high motor. Like, you sound like dick by tail now. Definitely didn't say that. What I will say that I saw in relation to basketball news, which is relevant for this podcast, is Tracy McGrady and Germain O'Nill

are starting a sports agency. I think that's a beautiful thing. I think people feel very empowered with what's going on and are filling in voids where there needs to be, they need to be filled. So congratulations to them.

Tracy McGrady said he's not going to be an agent, but he will be, you know, he founded it. He will be a driving force in it. And I love that. I love that they're going to start that. Yeah, I think that's a very...

I wanted to be a sports agent when I came out of law school. and I feel like this was something that I could have been a part of. So I just, you know, shout out to all the other people who are wanting to be sports agents. And there's this black. I think one of the biggest things that is sort of taking hold right now, but not being talked about enough, is the amount of powerful and semi-powerful black sports agents that are popping up everywhere, you know?

Even in the NFL with, you know, people like Nicole Lynn and people like that, it is remember think of the athlete the black athlete as an economic machine normally in generations past the only people that really benefit from that economic machine is that black athlete and then their surrounding friend and family network right back in the day you know they've always been black agents and black managers and all that stuff like that but typically back in the day it would be black manager black athlete then white man white agent, white accountant, white lawyer, all of that stuff like that. By the way, if you go out and you have a connection with someone or you think they're

awesome of their job and you want to hire them, that's your prerogative is whatever. But just to know that when we're talking about community building and culture building, that economically you can still enrich the black community with that type of economic engine just based upon who you hire. You talk about the guys like Rich Paul and now you're going to have Tracy McGrady and them and even BJ Armstrong and gentlemen like that. It's a really important step

and especially to have guys that understand the grind and the business of the NBA and really the ends and out that it takes to be a successful professional player like that with both of those guys. I think that's very, very powerful. Kudos to those dudes, man. Yep. See, I did see something today.

You did, and I hadn't even seen that. Oh, you had? I hadn't even seen that. It was on a jump. So you got a chance to watch a jump. I saw like Brian was watching it. I saw, I happened to see that. Oh, okay.

Brian, Brian, watching sports? Brian's big sports fan. Is Brian a good athlete? Let him tell it. He was in basketball. How about this? Go ahead. I will bust Brian's ass.

I'm not going to let you do my man like that, though. How about this? Me and Brian. Brian's one of the best basketball players I've ever seen. Now what? I'm Brian. Me and Brian 1 to 11. Higher learning at the end of the year.

Special live higher learning, me versus Brian in basketball. Telling you right now, I don't give a dime. I'm 6'4. I'm telling you right now I don't give a damn about any of this Colombian beauty model shit. I'll bust Brian ass. Tell Brian, I said it. Brian, tell you he loves to play basketball? I bust his ass. bus Brian asked.

When's the last time you were on a basketball court? Last Saturday. Oh, okay. Who was your honor to make the ally of the week? I don't really have an in-depth one, but I'm going to go with, so I'm you this week, right? Because normally I'm on point with my unexpected ally of the week. I'm going to say Major League Baseball, two things that I saw. I saw a manager for the Giants, I believe, takes a need during the anthem.

Beautiful thing. Don't really follow baseball, but I followed that. I thought that that was great. I thought I think it's setting a tone, opening day. I'd love to see it. And then I saw that was it the Red Sox that had a sign that said Black Lives Matter? Hilarious. It might have been the White Sox.

It was definitely the Red Sox, but it's hilarious coming from the Red Sox. I get it. I get it. But love to see it. Right. My unexpected ally of the week is former Skid Row lead. singer Sebastian Bach, okay? Sebastian Bach from Skiro.

I was a kid. He screams and he screams. He's like, screaming. That's how Sebastian Bach used to sound. You don't remember Skirot? The name sounds for, I'm trying to gather this. Yeah! He screamed his head off, yeah!

Sebastian Bach. And he was like, he used to, he was like a, that's what he would do. When he was, because it was other hair metal bands and they would do the difference, but Sebastian Bach, That's Sebastian Bach. That's him.

Like he could really sing now. Sebastian Bach challenged Trump supporters around the world. He threw down a gauntlet. He tweeted that Trump supporters stand against rock and roll. He challenged anyone who loves rock and roll to not support. President Trump and his divisive policies and agendas for America. Shout out to you, Sebastian Bach. She'd get Rose cool and now you're cool.

You got some, you wore some questionable t-shirts back in the day and they brought them back up on Twitter when you said what you said. Oh, did they? People grow. People change. They did. But shout out to Sebastian Bach. That is enough for us.

Hashtag Tateful Vixen. Oh, real quick. Real quick, real quick, I got a quick question for you. Who you got in the fight? Mike Tyson or Roy Jones, Jr.? That's a great question. This is an exhibition fight. I don't know if you guys know this.

It was announced earlier today. I hope to have either Mike or Roy next week on the podcast. I've been kind of trying to talk to both guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, seriously. They've got to do a whole bunch of friends with it. If Roy comes, we have to play the song. Y'all must have to get Roy. You're like, Roy.

Here's the thing about getting. getting Roy on the podcast. His thing about the fight. If this fight is anywhere near full speed, Mike is going to kill Roy. I'm going to Mike. If it's anywhere near full speed, Roy at his point,

Roy Jones Jr. At his peak was an unstoppable boxing killing machine. Offensively, maybe not a better fighter in the history of the sport. We ain't there no more. and Mike still got a ton of power, all right? So to me, personally, I think if they go full speed,

Mike on kill Roy. What about you? Yeah, I'm going from Mike Tyson. You know what? I ain't paid attention to Roy Jones Jr. Since he came out with the I smoke, I drink. I'm supposed to stop, but I can't. Hey, hey.

Do it big then. What was his rap? Roy Goalt said, Because Roy got them. Roy keep at least six women up in the bed. Roy keep at least six women up in the bed. At one point in the song, he actually said, because Roy gets head.

I'm like, yo, I'm like, Roy, like, relax, doc. Like, what are you? Like, Roy, I was done with him after that. To the kids. Like, Roy, the body head. You could think of anything else. But see, the thing about that is, what can he rap about, though? He can't rap about, like, moving no dope or hurt nobody.

and it's very corny because the first song he came out with was, by the way, Roy, that was a big hit for Roy, so I don't want to give Roy's credit. We used to strut to that all the time. That was the song. Yeah, that was a big hit for Roy. But, like, Roy came out,

and the first song he had was, Y'all must forgot, and it was boxing related, but that's kind of corny. Right. It's like, how, drop virtual Hill with a body shot. Nigger don't care about that. Like, you know what I'm saying? So, like, he came back,

and he can't remember about being a drug dealer or being on the streets or boxing. So he really only has to rap about women. And money. And money. And money. And money. So hopefully that little exchange didn't ruin our chance of getting to Rojo's

podcast. We'll have to see it. Anyway, Thought lawyers. It's a good song. Again, and it goes towards our point about not respecting women. But keep going.

No, I'm trying to end the podcast. I'm Rachel Lansing. We'll see y'all next week. Bye. What's up, Thought Warriors? If you want to continue the conversation from today's podcast, make sure you join our Facebook group. It's brand new.

Head to facebook.com slash group slash higher learning pod or search higher learning podcast on Facebook to find it. And if you did know, you can now watch every episode of higher learning directly on Spotify, and it is completely free. Thank you.