Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay - Trump's Rally Flop and a Noose in Bubba Wallace's Garage

Episode Date: June 23, 2020

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay discuss the surprising lack of attendance at President Trump’s rally in Tulsa (7:57), a noose being found in Bubba Wallace’s garage at Talladega (27:29), whether or not it’s fair to make college athletes play during the COVID-19 era (1:06:27), and the Eminem vs. Revolt beef (1:13:07). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yes. Wow. Wow. it again. No, you know, leave it like that. Leave it. No, I want everyone to leave it exactly. Leave the intro like that. So that's how we're starting the show off. That's how we're starting to show. I was about to get into the whole, yes, thought warriors. Welcome to higher learning. As soon as I said, yes, you said, I'm ready. That's how excited you are about today's podcast. I guess so. I'm on the edge of my seat. Let's go. I'm ready. Are you going to tell people your name. Tell the people your name then.

What's up, everybody? If this is your first time listening, I'm Rachel Lindsay. I am Van Lathen. Welcome to Higher Learning Thought Warriors. Big Rache, Rachel Lindsay, is having so many problems technically over there. This is like a really interesting beginning to the podcast. I just drop the mic.

You cut my intro off and then you drop the mic. What's going on with you today, Big Rish? It's a Monday. I'm having a hell of a Monday. It's just, it was supposed to be chill. And it's just a lot of things have been throwing my way. And I guess I'm just like all over the place, discombobulated.

I just, I'm going to take, I'm going to take three deep breaths and then I'm ready for the podcast. Go ahead. Continue, Van. So let's talk this out for a second because more than anything, this podcast is about, you know, connection, connecting to people and being able to have a forum where you discuss what's going on. What's got this Monday so particularly jammed up for you, Big Rachel? Nothing in particular. It's just, I was just going to, you know, watch my morning news, catch up on. what happened on the weekend, prepare for the podcast. And it was just email after phone call, after I had a meeting I didn't even know about today and something got canceled.

So it was just all over the place. I like to plan out my day the night before so I can have the right mindset going in. So when the day happens like this, it just throws me off. I have a term for that. What's called? To pop in the process. And you know what? I'll wear it proudly.

I thought you were going to say, type A. No, sometimes you're just too pop in the process. Things is popping all around you. You can't process things. That's when you're in that mode, what do you do? Because there's a lot of people that are listening to this. And things are popping in their lives. It might not be popping like kind of Andy Cohen popping.

Like, you got it going. We're just not going to let this go. They might have kids yelling at them. They might have, you know, all, types of different things that are going on that there's so much going in the world. How do you stop and process? What do you do to slow things down a little bit? What's your, what's your deal?

I honestly like take a beat. I just have to sit, take a couple of deep breaths and then prioritize. Like, okay, this got canceled. Now I'm going to do this. I'm going to move this around. I just plan everything out so then I can tackle everything the way it should be. But you got to take a break. You know, you got to like check yourself for a second.

Yeah. You kind of kind of, you know, I do this right here. This is how I get this will see this right here. If you're watching on thing, this little pill, that's called Alexa Pro baby. And like, what I need. And I take one of these little guys every day. No, it's not, it's an Alexa pro baby.

And I take one of these guys. And that stops the crippling panic attacks. I'm excited about later on tonight. I have something very special that's happening for me later on tonight. What's up? Monday night. I have my first. Madden football tutoring session tonight.

Oh, wait. What is that? Yes. So I have been during the time that I was having nervous breakdowns with the whole COVID thing stuck inside going crazy. Okay. I decided to reignite my love of John Madden football. Okay. It's a video game that you play. It's very serious, Rachel. It's video game that you play on LX box. I'm aware of it.

And so I've played the game and I realized that. that motherfuckers have gotten really good at the game. And in the time that I've been adulting and growing up, they have figured out every aspect of the game. And I'm in these leagues with some NBA guys, right? And they are, they have so much free time. I think I've talked about this before. They are so good at the game.

I'm losing, like last night I played a game. Great guy. It's very nice. I lost 63 to 19. Yikes. That was the final score. Yeah, in a video game. Who was your team? Who was your team?

I was playing with the Raiders. I was playing with the Raiders. Could that be why? No, because, like, I've lost to everyone. I've lost to Mitchell Trubisky as much as I've lost. Now, he did have a better team than me last night because he had, because we're in a league, so they're making trades and stuff. Okay.

So he had the Packers, but he had Patrick Mahomes and quarterback. Oh, wow. You could stop there. And he had signed Antonio Brown. So he had a beast team. But so tonight, I actually... I'm sorry, so Antonio Brown can be in the game even though he's not in the league?

He's a free agent. So in the league, in the game, like, you could sign Antonio Brown right now. So in the franchise, you can go sign them if you want. Okay. You know, there was some kids, some, there was, I will say this, there was some controversy because somebody signed Andrew Luck in the league.

And he's retired. He can't do that. That's like fucking signing O.J. Simpson. But no, so tonight what I did was, not the same, it's fine. I went on YouTube and one of these guys that does the Madden tutorials, I actually hired him to give me a tutoring session tonight on the game. This is what we're doing with our time. At 645, we're going to get, we're going to do the thing on.

We're getting practice mode and he's going to teach me some stuff. I'm going to start doing this. But like, are you playing for money or is this just bragging rights? there's betting that goes on. I'm not betting, but I'll tell you that it's hard to like something and love something and play something that you're getting your ass waxed in.

So I want to get better. And there's no really way for me to get better except for to put the work in. I'm dedicated to putting the work into Madden. This goes back to male pride. I got it. I play fantasy football. Wait, wait, wait.

This goes back to male pride. What the hell? It's your pride. Your pride is hurt because you're losing. So, but, so, there's no pride. I think that there are hundreds of women in the WNBA and sports everywhere that are super competitive

and have pride in winning that has nothing to do with being a man. You just named a real sport. What? Versus the video game. Oh, so video games aren't a real sport. I mean, you're not actually exerting any physical activity. Are you exerting any physical activity

when you play golf? Are you exerting any physical activity? Are you exerting physical activity when you race car drive? Yes. So you're telling me that race car driving... Your foot has to hit the pedal. You have to move the wheel.

You have to switch gears. And when you're playing a video game, you have to have dexterity and coordination. I cannot. It's the same thing. I've never played Madden in my entire life. I've dated gamers. I've never played the game.

It just never piqued my interest. I play fantasy football, which is what this sounds like without the remote control. So be honest, is fantasy football competitive? Yes. Does competition have anything to do with being male or female? It does not.

See, look. Look what we got? What's the first topic? What's the first topic? You already know I'm down today. I'm just going to kick you on. I'm down. Oh, I'll tell you what.

You know, speaking of competition, there's probably somebody, oh, you know what? No, you're right about something. This isn't competition. This is ego. This is pride. President Trump.

the president of these United States of America still find that hard to believe every time I say it had a rally. He held this rally this past Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Remember, this was the rally that was originally scheduled to happen on Juneteenth. The pressure from the president having this rally on Juneteenth and sort of the backlash

had to move it back one day. They moved the back one day. It took place Saturday. And... by any objective metric, this rally was a gigantic failure. First of all, am I fair in even saying that, Big Rache? Or is that me projecting onto this rally what I want to believe about it? There's no other word.

Failure, disaster, embarrassment, joke. You can keep going. I get it, yeah. And the reason why is because, you know, the president puts a lot of pride and a lot of stock into the size of things. And fellas, I want to tell you, it's just, it's just don't put a lot of stock into the size of things, right? Because that's the one thing that you can't control.

All right. It's better to put stock into what you're actually going to do, how you're going to do it, how dedicated to it you're going to be. and what your point is going to be. But the size, that's the one thing you can't control. I think President Trump learned that he can't control the size. Actually, it's probably something he learned a long time ago because not a lot of people showed up to this rally.

There was an overflow area outside of it. They were anticipating such large crowds. They had an area for the people to kind of be outside of the arena there in Tulsa. And they were going to use that. They're going to have President Trump and Vice President Pence come out there and address people from the overflow area. Well, way before things got kicked off in Oklahoma, they realized that there would not be enough people

for that area to be useful. So they scrapped that. And inside, if you look at the pictures that came out from the administration from the White House, you might look like you had a huge, huge turnout. But if you look at any of the pictures from around there, I think the fire marshal there in Tulsa said around 6,200 people or 6,700 people.

62 hundred people. 6,200 people showed up to this rally. Your thoughts on all of this, does this to you, there's a lot to be taken away from this. Some people are saying that, you know, this rally means that President Trump is vulnerable politically. He's down nationwide to Vice President Biden in most states and nationally. Well, not most states, but most of the battleground states and nationally. Do you take this as a specific political vulnerability from, from, from,

President Trump right now? I don't. And the reason that I don't is because I like you, remember 2016. And in June 2016, everything was going Hillary's way and it seemed as if Hillary would win. It was a joke almost that her competition was President Trump. So I'm always taken aback to that and to never get complacent with a poll or the media coverage or even a rally attended by 6,200 people because I remember how everybody was so sure that Hillary Clinton was going to be the president in 2016. And I remember, I was out of the country when he was elected. I remember, I was actually filming the bachelor van when he was elected. You're in the windmill? I was in Finland in the North Pole. In the windmill. No, I was not in a windmill. That was,

that was, that was after me. That's not attached to me. Um, But no, it's June. November is a long ways away. A lot could happen between June and November. And I think that it's really important that this is funny to talk about. It's obviously embarrassing for the Trump administration. It's a huge blow when you've got coronavirus going against you, when you've got the Black Lives Matter movement going against you, and the economy against you. The only thing that you have to stand on is your ego. And the fact that a million people supposedly registered for this rally all boosted his ego. He could stand tall on that. And then at the end of the day, there were only 6,200 people. I don't know if that was in relation to the no-show protest. I don't know if his campaign administration just, I mean, his administration just, I don't know, messed up the, I have no idea how you could be that off. That means 993,800 people didn't show up. So, I mean, I just, to answer your question, you can't be complacent. You take it, you laugh at it, but the fight's not over. Don't think that we've won the battle

just because at the first rally, it was low in numbers. No, I agree with you. I will say this. If the election was tomorrow, I think that Donald Trump would lose. Absolutely. Right. If, if it's not, but if it were, I think that Donald Trump would lose. I listened to a podcast from the brilliant guys over at 538. They were talking about specifically the poll numbers. And there are some states, some key states, where Biden is up big. He's up big in Michigan right now. In swing states.

You're talking about swing states. And swing states. Key states. So he's up big in Michigan right now. And like I said to you, according to their data, Texas right now is a one point lead for President Trump. So Texas is kind of in play. It's not that, I mean, there's no such thing as having an election locked up in June.

like you said, too many things can happen between now and November. But it is, it's important for people to understand just the political trouble that President Trump is in, just so we don't start to have a notion that he's unbeatable. And I think that there is, sometimes we have the tendency to look at President Trump because it doesn't seem like anything has been able to affect his voice. version of America that he's sort of, you know, raised up from the primordial slime. And they seem like they cannot be stopped. But they can be.

And they will be if people are engaged enough to care about the state that the country is in. And I think that Saturday night you saw both sort of depressed enthusiasm for the president and his administration right there. You saw health concerns. So as many people as they say, don't care about COVID-19. Obviously, there are people in Oklahoma, are people in Tulsa that do care because they weren't at the rally.

And then you saw some other things. You saw like, you know, the K-pop stands get involved. Huge. Shout out to the K-pop stands, man. The K-pop stands, if you guys don't know, the K-pop stands got in there. And I guess the thinking is that they registered for the rally in crazy numbers. Yes. And then reserved a lot of the seats to then stop people from coming to the

rally because there would be no seats left, right? If the seats reserved, you can't then reserve it. And then when you get there, no one shows up. Now, if you think about that, you think, hey, that's cute. And that is something that they did to mess over this one particular political event. And it doesn't have much to do with the overall climate politically here in America. But that's not true. And the reason why that's not true is because that is a whole swath of allies that exist in this moment that didn't exist in 2016. That's true. And the only thing that you're asking for right now in order to beat this political movement that's cropped up in America is an equal and opposite force. I think everyone can have a hand in that. I think that is happening.

That would be a reason why I feel enthused by the fact that this right. rally didn't go over and have huge numbers and it wasn't another feather that the White House could stick in their cap. Yeah, but you know, my fear is the conservatives can see what happened with this and then try to do the same thing to Biden in his first rally when he decides to get on the road. I mean, I just, here's my thing. And it goes back to what I said originally. It's June. November is really a long ways away. And this momentum, as in as I am by the K-pop fans and the other people. I have a lot of friends who filled out, you know,

registration for the rally with emails, email addresses and phone numbers, who obviously didn't attend. But that momentum, we have to keep it going. And we have to figure out ways to when the country starts opening back up, to still remind people, hey, it's not over. The battle has to keep going. You still got to get out there and vote. You still got to promote, or not promote, but you still got to know,

what it is that we're fighting for and continue to push those initiatives through. By the way, I don't think that Vice President Biden should do any rallies. Zero rallies. Well, and I don't want you to say why. I don't want you to say why. I don't want you to say why.

Vice President Biden should not speak until January. That's not good for you to say that. Even after the election is over, is the only thing that we need Vice President Biden to say is in January of 2021 to say, I do. And that's the oath of office. I don't want them to talk. They have people who write their speeches for them.

Just read the speech. Just read the speech. Obviously, there's no one. Obviously, that person doesn't exist in the Biden campaign. The person that writes what you're supposed to say or monitors what you're supposed to say or in any way make sure that you don't say the wrong thing, that's obviously a vacant post in the Biden campaign. That person doesn't exist.

A person, not real. Don't know no person. They're never going to be perfect. They're always going to slip up and say something. Then every time he speaks, he says something that I'm like, damn, for real? Seriously? And then somebody has to. Lessor of two evils.

Damn it, man. I guess. You know what? And you know what? We said that four years ago. Four years ago, we were like, well, damn, this is the lesser of two evils. No, listen. I'll be honest.

You say whatever. I actually, I'm not one of these people. I liked Hillary Clever. I thought that, you know, she is what she is. But I like to hear her. I was excited about- She just wasn't my first choice. She just wasn't a particularly strong candidate for the presidency of the United States of America.

And there are all kinds of reasons why some in her control, some not. But what I'm saying right now is I don't really want a situation. I don't want too many Biden rallies. That's it. Like, I don't. It's just Biden gets up there. I don't know. I have no clue what Biden's going to say.

The problem is that now people are talking about it. Right. And I think that's part of the push why President Trump decided to do a rally because it forces Biden's hand of and it forces that narrative of you're just hiding in your basement. You won't come out and speak because you're too afraid to. And that is something that an audience will play into. Well, I want a president who can speak to us, who can be, you know, for us, who can talk to us, who can go outside of our country and be able to have these relationships with other countries. It's going to look bad. It's a narrative that they are going to play into for. sure. That's fine. Like, look, keep this man on ice. You know what I mean? That's so bad. Look, I'm saying, look, I'm not saying it. It's funny. Somebody from, I can't remember who it was. It wasn't McConnell. It was, there was a Republican lawmaker, I think as a senator, who did criticize President Trump in the last couple of weeks, because if you notice, almost every person President Trump has ever hired has turned on him. or been involved in some sort of scandal

in some sort of way. He just has this way of wearing out his welcome with people that he told the American people were fantastic. But he said, if there's one criticism I have of this president, is that he hasn't hired well. Hiring well is at least 80 to 90% job of the job of a president.

And I do believe that there is a brain trust surrounded that surrounds Biden that can deliver an administration that can work on some of the problems of the American people. And if not even to that end, get us

back to a functioning normal sort of government and out of the racist twilight zone that we're in right now. Having said that, the vision the vision of the president that's going to be able to go out there

and say the right thing and unite everybody, Rachel. That's not Joe Biden. I'm sorry. That's not his strong. I get it. That is not Trump. I'm saying, look,

like, Biden needs to be clear on policy, very clear on policy, and very, very direct in his outreach towards the African-American community. and his vision for America. But you can do all that on the website. Right. Biden has the ability,

what Trump lacks Biden has. Biden makes people feel comfortable and he makes people feel like he cares. Like he has the empathy gene. You, uh-huh. There is a poll. There are polls. There are polls that say.

Who are they poll? That made, like, I know you're giving the black perspective. I'm talking in general. I'm just saying in general. Because I, because I'm just saying in general. I know you're giving the black perspective.

perspective, and I'm not denying that. I'm just saying that compared to Trump, there are a people majority that feel like he empathizes and understands them in a way that Trump is a gene that Trump doesn't possess. That's what I'm saying. And I'm talking in whole, I am not giving the black perspective. Right. This is what I would say about that. To me, I think there are a lot of Americans who think that Trump completely identifies with them. No. He shares their idiot. There has to be, Rachel, like the elected president. Not now. That's not what the polls are saying. Not. Now. You're talking before for sure.

No, what the polls are saying now, first of all, let's talk about polling for a second. The polling when it comes to Trump supporters is never going to be quite accurate because there's a specific segment of the American population that doesn't respond to polls and they tend to be amongst the MAGA group. And then secondly, there's still a lot of people who will vote for Trump in secret and then not admit to a poster or even in public that they support tax breaks or whatever else is. All I'm saying is this. I'm saying I don't think that Joe Biden is an effective communicator.

I don't. I think that that's his. I'm not going to argue. That's his. So to that end, when Joe Biden speaks, I don't feel comforted at all. As a matter of fact, it's stressful. Because like, every time he talks, I'm like, yo man, how is this nigga going to fuck up now and cost us this whole shit? And so that's what I'm saying.

Listen, give them some puzzles. Oh, you know what you should do? This is what we should do. What? I have an idea. Joe Biden's in the basement down there, right? We should get Joe Biden animal crossing. I don't even know what that.

I don't understand it. I don't know what it is. I've just seen an ad for it. You don't have to. All you know is that once you start playing Animal Crossing, you cannot get anything else in your life accomplished. Do you play? That's all you need to know.

No, I don't because I'm afraid. Nigger, I just told you I got a madden to it. Can you imagine what would happen to me? You threw it. I know nothing about Animal Crossing, so I wouldn't even know to throw that example out there. That's about all I know is, my mom made a garden on Animal Crossing. It's too much going on on there. We get Joe Biden Animal Crossing.

We let him start a world. We say, hey, play as much as you want. November 10th, we take Animal Crossing from him. Okay? and then we say, hey, I don't know if you know Joe, Uncle Joey, but during the time that you were playing Animal Crossing, they elected you the president of the entire nation. And then he goes, huh?

And then we go, okay, play Animal Crossing until January. People are not going to vote for anybody, which is what happened in 2016. That is exactly what, people were like, you know what? Neither one. I'm just not going to vote. And then here we are four years later. Got to vote for Joe Biden. The reason why you got to vote for Joe Biden is because we have to see a seat.

change in American politics that matches the sea change that exists right now on the streets and all over the country. And you're just simply not going to be able to see that in a Trump administration in a Trump America. You're not. And by the way, I want to say something real quick, that sometimes doesn't get said. When I talk about what goes on for me as a black man, I'm talking about what goes on for me as a black man. I'm talking about addressing problems, both politically, socially and systemically that have affected black people for hundreds of years. And country. If you are listening to this from the Appalachians, from Middle America, from any of the flower states, I do not envision an American country where you are not a part of that. And I don't

think that I need a homogene of thought and able to exist in this country. I need people to respect my humanity and respect my access to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. And if you can respect those two things, we can disagree about taxes and all of that other stuff. So I'm not saying that we have to leave a portion of America behind. I think if there's one thing that the Obama administration got wrong. And really, the left as a whole got wrong at the beginning of the last decade was that there was a sort of elitist air to things that made a lot of people, rightfully so. And these are people of all colors feel left out in the changing of America.

Now, I don't think that that's the way to unite people. But I certainly don't think that the factions that have arisen in America, in the last four to five years have any designs on healing this country either. Right. So I don't want to leave anyone behind, but I just want to get the conversation back to some sort of civil discourse and not about racism, white supremacy, and hurting Mexican people. It's true. It's true.

Well said. Well said. It's all about bringing this country to. at least trying, trying, having some type of an agenda to bring us together. To move us out of what we're going through now. This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable Internet means everything for your business.

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Protein. Made to keep up with whatever comes next. New sweetgreen wraps hit different. Order now at order.com. You know, there was a setback in that, and this is a very sad story. A setback in this coming together. Happened in NASCAR this past weekend. Now NASCAR, maybe one of the last sports you'd expect to be on the front lines of the corporate response to some of the unrest that we've seen.

and sort of embracing Black Lives Matter. NASCAR has attempted to do this. They've outlawed the Confederate flag at infields all over the country. They've tried to be out front supporting a driver named Bubba Wallace, who is black. He raced with the Black Lives Matter

on the side of his car. And they were in full support of that. Had black people even coming out to NASCAR events. You know, I saw, I think it was Alvin Kamara from the Saints. Alvin, Alvin. Camara. Did you say Camara or Kamara? I'll go, I'll defer to you because of New Orleans. I say, I say Camara, but you can say Camaro, sister.

But something disgusting happened to Bubba Wallace. It's past Sunday, there was a noose found hanging in his garage. I guess it was during a NASCAR event. They found this news now since then. He's responded saying that he will not be scared. He will not stop speaking out. That's very important. Also, there was a scene where all the drivers got together and pushed Bubba Wallace's car to the front in a show of solidarity.

When you heard about the news, your first thoughts were. I wasn't surprised. And I hate to sound so cynical and so negative. But, Van, you just said that NASCAR, when we wouldn't necessarily expect it, has been on the forefront of everything that's been happening as far as. in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement in relation to sports. I wouldn't say that they're at the forefront. It's because they were already so far behind. And the history and the connotations that are associated with NASCAR,

especially Talladega, that track alone has so much history related to it in regards to racism. I'm not shocked that there's a noose. I'm saddened by it at what it represents and what it means. I'm sad that Bubba Wallace is putting himself out there and is really trying to fight the fight within his sport and is doing a fantastic job. And then you have something like this habit. It's crazy because it's almost like Bubba Wallace is being treated like a Jackie Robinson is 2020. It's almost like he's integrating NASCAR and he's not. But that's what this feels like with the noose and the people flying a Confederate flag, a plane flew over the track today with a Confederate flag saying,

defund NASCAR. There were still people outside of the track selling Confederate flags and merchandise with Confederate flags on it, not wanting it to go, not realizing, or they do realize. It's almost as if they are upset that they're trying to diversify their sport. They're trying to hold on to the history of what NASCAR is and how it is not inclusive and how it is not comfortable and welcoming for people of color to want to come to their sport. You know, it's just, It's very upsetting, but it's not surprising. I was glad. Why, babe?

I was happy about it. I was glad. Why? Because you think that, go ahead. I'm not going to speak for you. Tell me why. I'll tell you why. I felt bad for Bubba.

Of course. I felt bad for in the moment that he had to walk in there and see that. But I'll tell you why. Well, he didn't see it. Thank goodness. Whoever saw it. I felt bad that he had to be a part of that and he had to feel that feeling, right? That's so many Black Americans I felt before.

I felt very sad for him. I felt sad for anyone that's going to be discouraged by it. I'll tell you why I felt glad. The reason why I felt glad is because we're not crazy. We're not crazy. I get you. Okay? We're not crazy.

Guys, we've been telling you for years. decades, generations, that there is an intentionality to the racism, the loss of life, and the oppression that black people have been dealing with. And we've been told over and over and over again that we're not trying hard enough, that it's accidental, that it's imaginary, that it's an apparition, a figment of sort of, like, in some way, this has to do with us being less than, right? It has to do with us not being able to rise to the standard of America. We're not willing to work hard enough for it.

We're not willing to sacrifice enough for it. It's something that's in our minds. And as soon as we give our buy-in, as soon as we go, okay, we're all in for the country, we're going to do all of this stuff. That magically, these things that we've been talking about for years, are going to go away. It's not true. The truth is that we attempt to make progress, we sacrifice, we give life, we give business, we give work, we give anything and everything that America has asked of us. And when we get to a point that things are about to change,

someone makes it their point to remind us what kind of niggers we really are. So you have a situation in NASCAR, where NASCAR is about progress. NASCAR decides that they're going to embrace progress, American progress, which, by the way, is going to give you a different look at NASCAR events if black Americans feel comfortable there. It's going to give you a different look there. You might see more, this might work out for NASCAR's bottom line to see more diversity in their sport.

You might see more black race car drivers. You might see more merchandise sold in African-American. communities, all types of things. It's good when there's diversity. It sort of deepens the well of people who will consume whatever it is that you're putting out there. And someone says, no, in a very real and intentional way, no. This is what we want to give you instead of that progress and diversity. Death.

The noose signifies death, hanging. putting a black man and a black woman on a noose, on a tree, in front of the rest of the slaves, in front of the whole town, cutting their genitals off. You know what I mean? That whole nine. Like, you want freedom. We give you death. And we've been saying that for years.

Yeah. We've been saying that when it comes to the police department. We've been saying that when it comes to politics. We've been saying that when it comes to the environments. that we grow up in. We've been saying at all that we want freedom and we're repaid in death, but people won't believe us.

I think we're making it up. They think we're crazy, and then you know what ends up happening? We think we're crazy. We go, well, fuck, man. If fucking Michael Jordan made it, then maybe they're right. I should be able to make it too.

Maybe I just need to spend more time working on this or working on that and blah, blah, blah. But the reality is that this country has had a very specific use for black bodies for a long time and they keep reminded us of that. And when that person did that and put that noose up there,

they're exposing the ugliness and the deep-seated racism of this country and that needs to be exposed. They're showing their asses out there right now and not just the cheeks, but the hole. They're showing it all. But even the racism that exists, yes, in this country, but with this sport,

it's almost as if when you put up that news, you're trying to let us know this is ours. Don't take this away from us. That's how I feel. When I see the Confederate flags flying over a NASCAR event, it really is a message of you don't want us here. You don't want to make us feel comfortable.

You're reminding us what you think of us. You're letting us know how you see us. You want to celebrate a time in history that celebrates our inferiority. That is what you're representing to me upon entering a NASCAR event. I mean, do you know the history of Talladega? the Speedway, do you know who was the person who was big on developing that Speedway track? None other than George Wallace. George Wallace, for those of you who don't know who George Wallace is, he's probably the most prominent, racist.

Segregationalist. He was an Alabama governor. He ran for president. Former governor, ran for president. He is known. That phrase, when the looting starts, The shooting starts, although everyone says it, and it did, come from a police chief in Miami, it was George Wallace, who also used to say that all the time, too.

That man was very big in the development of Talladega Speedway. It is known for its history and being rooted in racism. So the fact that the news showed up there, even more so shows how it's not even just the country, it's this sport. I don't think the sport is progressive. I think the sport is trying to erase the, image and the negative connotations we have with it for its lack of diversity. It also has, I mean, I think it was in 2015, their TV ratings have started to plummet. So they're trying

to do something different to bring in a different crowd. But before that, they weren't. I mean, come on, the Confederate flag. It was officially a part of NASCAR. I know that. And that was five years ago. It was removed. So they tried to make changes, but that's only five years ago that there is this deep rooted racism related to this sport. And even when I saw all those people walking behind Bubba Wallace and pushing his car and supporting him, I am so sorry, but I couldn't help but think. I bet somebody in that crowd was affiliated with putting up that news. Probably so.

Like my, I guess what I'm saying is this. Not so much that NASCAR is a progressive sport. Obviously, it's not. But look at the reaction to them attempting to be. But why? I mean, why what? Well, because their ratings starts a plummet in 2015. So it's like, well, what do we do to start to pick up the sport?

Maybe we should diversify and reach out to other things, other races. Maybe we should pull down our Confederate flag, which is when they did it. If the ratings stayed the way they were, would you have made a change? That doesn't matter. Does it matter? No, that doesn't matter. I mean, to me. Well, I mean, well, I'll tell you one thing.

If you're looking for, if you're looking for pure hearts in order to change this country, then you're never going to get that. Like what, like what you, the only thing that you can hope from an institution, especially a corporation that exists to make money, is that what's best for their bottom line reflects what's best for our community. That's the only thing that you can hope. You can't hope that one day somebody's going to have a change of heart and think that something that they loved on Monday is terrible on Wednesday

because human beings don't work that way. What you can hope is that the pressure that you can put on them and you can change their bottom line and make that more in step with what's good for us. But if the bottom line is money and it changes in our favor, that means it could just as quickly change again if money is what makes it change back. Do you know what I mean?

That's just the way things are. I know, but if we're talking about moving forward to a point where we don't go back to the way that things are, whether it be sports, politics, just the culture in general, then I'm not comfortable with knowing that the reason that you changed is based off of business and money because that means that it could change all over again.

Well, if it did change all over again, it would then be because of us. I'll tell you what I mean. I don't expect people to, like I don't care about, I don't care about racial harmony. I care about racial justice. Meaning, if you want to,

to sit over in the corner and be a racist, I'm not about to spend my black ass life trying to convince you that the way you think is wrong. You can think whatever you want to think. But what you can't do is do whatever you want to do, meaning I have to be treated equitably, I have to be treated fairly, I have to be treated justly in America. And if I am not, what I want is justice for being treated improperly. That's the only thing that we can legislate here. can't legislate how people feel. The thing about NASCAR is that the sea change in America has has to do with people deciding what kind of justice they want out of this system, what kind of society they want to live in. It's up to us to keep those ideas of that society moving forward.

The corporations, they're going to bend to whatever. You know, when Hitler came into Germany, those people weren't always Nazis. They became Nazis. And the people that became Nazis became Nazis, if you really want to be real about it, because they were sold something that they felt like worked for them. So if you're like, people are going to vacillate with, like, for, for, for example, America right now is a Trump nation. We as a country elected President Trump. We did that. And that's something that would have been impossible even four years prior to that. So what you can hope for is that there's enough voices raised, enough political, social, and economic pressure to make these people in these positions do what reflects from us. You can't hope that they're

going to change their minds because they aren't. I feel like that applies to some things. Like, you want to give the NASCAR example? Absolutely. You want to give the Bachelor example. Absolutely. It's not a heart mind thing. It is a business. It's changing your business to reflect the times, right, with what's happening right now. That's how I feel about all these statements, right? Because we've seen with the NFL stance before. Now, in relation to the times, things have totally changed. ESPN, NASCAR, Bachelor, you name it.

Everybody's changing because of the times. I do feel like, though, when you're saying you're fighting for justice to get that change, we can argue, we can march, we can protest, we can do it until we're blue in the face. But at the end of the day, it is going to have to be. to take somebody's changing somebody's mind and heart within. They're not going to change just because we're so loud. That's not true. We've been loud.

We haven't been loud? No, that's not true. You know what happened? People start burning shit down and it started hurting them economically. No, I mean, let's just be real with you. Like, like, let's be real. If we were not in quarantine, if we were not in quarantine right now, I, like, I would bet my life

on this. If we were not in quarantine right now, it's not the first time we burned shit down. not like this if i agree that not like this but part of the not like this is because we're in a quarantine we have it's it's a state of the world it's not because it's we have people's attentions we're affecting them in a completely different way you're making my you're making my argument though but i'm saying we're affecting them within like in a different way if they want to sit there they're scared they're scared so they get now so so all these non-black people are getting out in the street right now marching with no those people represent a generation that we're not talking about remember what i'm

saying now those people represent a generation that might not be affected in the same way than the NASCAR people are right so the people in that generation i don't know what their hearts are they're with us they're in the streets with us and i think that see change i'm not i'm not talking about changing people that those people are already with us right they're out on the streets with us that that's why they matter to me and what's in the hearts of a NASCAR person doesn't matter what happened was this in my opinion number one there were no there was nothing else to do but be focused on this. And so people were.

And it spread all over the place, right? And when people took to the streets in the way that they did, what corporations and what people all over the place saw was that America is not invincible. America is a human body. It's an organ with a heart and a liver and a brain and all of those things. And the diseases that are inside of America can kill it. They really can.

And one of the ways that the body dies is through fire. And if people, if enough people go out and fuck up enough businesses and rip up enough shit, what you then have is the loss of capitalism and consumerism and you have anarchy and those people can't make money in that system. So they start going, okay, what do we have to do to affect these people to make them come back and start participating again? And see when they start asking that question, that's when we got to have answers. As far as caring about whether or not, why would I care about, how could I ever believe that Apple or Nike cares about human rights in America when they got kids in Asia making

these products for 75 cents a day? I fucking know they don't care about that. I'm not arguing with you against corporations and businesses. I completely agree with you. I said it. It's a response to what is actually happening. But I'm talking about, and maybe I am making, maybe we're really saying the same thing. I'm talking about the people that we're marching. I'm talking about people I have conversations with who are in a business world, who are talking to me like they just realized racism existed for the first time in 2020 because they're stuck at home seeing it and they can't escape it like they normally would. Normally they'd be able to escape it in their everyday life. Well, this is your everyday life. Sitting at home, watching TV. So it is affecting people in a way where they can't run away from it. I guess that is what I'm seeing that's a difference that I say is a mind and a heart issue or that people feel more comfortable to speak out on it in a way that wouldn't exist to me if we weren't, if the world wasn't in the state that it's in right now. Yeah, I understand that. I can I can accept that.

But what I'm saying is that the only reason why they're seeing this type of demonstration is because of those same circumstances, right? Like, I was able to protest, right? I was able to go out and protest. Well, one reason why I was able to go out and protest is because I didn't have to be a TMZ. Like, I didn't have to work. Yeah. We were all ready right there to do it.

And to be real with you, the level, like people got scared, the level of protesting that we saw and the level of societal unrest that we saw, we hadn't really seen this in our lifetimes in this stage and not just here, but all over the world. And so what I'm asking for, what I'm asking for is for those protests is for there to be some type of stick. Like in these movements we typically give the carrot. And the carrot is, listen, if you guys just listen to us and respect us and march along with us and help us, we'll deliver a bare American society. It'll be a true melting pot. We'll fucking cure cancer.

everything will be better as long as that's that was the best that's been a carrot and that carrot rotted after a while because they never ate it right but the the stick worked the stick was yo y'all killed another black man we're sick of this shit it's a it's a chance we burn this whole fucking country down but don't what do you say then to the people who aren't affiliated with that right because we all know black lives matter started back as a result of Trayvon Martin right so you're talking 2013 that started here we are in 2020. Same shit is happening. But for some reason, people are responding in a totally different way. And I'm not talking about corporations. Just look at social media, right? It's actually uncool to not

post about Black Lives Matter or to educate yourself or to learn. The conversations I feel like I've had or the people that reach out to me or the people that are yearning, I'm not saying I know everybody's hard. I'm not saying that everybody's sincere. I'm just saying the way that people were responding now as opposed to when they did seven years ago and nobody wanted to hear Black Lives Matter and all they wanted to shout was all Lives Matter, even though that's still going on. It's just in a, it's not as elevate. Those voices aren't as elevated as they were before. That to me is a heart issue. It is a mind issue. It is people seeing it in a different way. And I'm, and I'm telling you, I am not an optimist by any means. I'm probably one of the most negative people that

she will meet. But the response that I've seen now versus then can't be anything. And I'm not talking about the business side of it. Can't be anything but a mind and a heart issue. It can't. So two things happen. Number one is that when we lost Trayvon at 2012, a lot of the kids that are in the street now when we lost him, they were in middle school. So there's a reason why this was a perfect storm, not even middle school. Some of them were in elementary schools. But I'm not talking about that demographic. But what I'm saying is, the people that are on the street, the people that are on the street, like,

they came into their own and they know what kind of world they want. They're fine. I'm with them. Anybody else, just to be honest with you, anybody else that would come to me right now that's around my same age group, that after Trayvon and after Mike Brown, and after Eric Garner and after Sandra Bland, you know, even after Amad Arbery or Breonna Taylor

or any of these people, right, and wants me to have a conversation about systemic racism and inequality in America now, I'm looking at them in a weird way. I'm almost looking at them in a fuck you way because to be honest with you, I don't longer care if that person can actually, I've been screaming,

my head off of my entire life. All I care about are results. If in your heart, you are 100% with me and you've seen what America has done to black people and you've seen what America's done to women and you've seen what America has done to trans people and the gay people and to Hispanics and back to the Japanese and to the Chinese and to the natives who they exterminated as soon as they got here, soon as America got here, they made a decision that people's bodies

were worth sacrificing to the God of capitalism, right? First thing America ever did. Right. Manifest destiny, right? If you've ignored all of that and you just had your come to Jesus moment right now, I need you to have it in a different room.

That's fine. I'm glad that you're having it, but I'm not going to be a part of that for you. I'm like, I need you to have it in a different room. Go for it. I'm not mad at it. go for it. But all I can care about is results.

What is going to be better for black people? I agree. Couldn't give a fuck less about whether or whether or not you actually are with me. What are you going to do? I have a different perspective in the sense that I'm not here to be your teacher, but it is human nature for people to only care about the things that directly impact them, period. It's so easy to ignore what's going on and to get caught up in your own bubble. I'm not excusing it.

I'm in a place every day where I fight emotions of being overwhelmingly frustrated and angry that people are acting like racism started this year and then really trying to say, but you know what, but I have your attention now. I go every day I fight those emotions of, but don't focus on what they didn't do and focus on the fact that you do have everyone's attention. now and what are you going to do with it. So I'm not a person who is going to push you away for asking a question. I'm going to listen to you, but I'm not going to do the work for you. If you're my friend and you're really genuinely trying to understand something, I will answer

your question, but I'm not going to be your professor. I'm not going to be your teacher. But I'm also not going to turn you away and push you right back into the place that you've been living in your entire life. Do you know what I mean? I get it. So I was on a, I was running this yesterday, I'm going to send you this, by the way. I was running yesterday and I was at the Los Angeles Historical State Park, adjacent to downtown. Great place. Love it.

Fantastico place. And I do this run where I run there and make a loop and I come back and outside. I was running. This guy stops me. And he goes, let me ask you a question. I was like, uh-oh. Here we go. And he was an Hispanic man.

And I talked to him for an hour right there, longer. And he just literally was asking questions about, We ran into the whole deal. We went from Black Lives Matter to gay and trans rights to the whole thing. He was asking me. And I just felt, you know what, today I'm going to do this. Normally I don't do this, but today, and I taped the whole thing. And it was, it was, it was fantastic, right?

It was fantastic. The conversation wasn't great. But it was fantastic just to know, like, how much work that we have to do sometimes. So I don't have a problem talking to people about this. things and wanting to be a part of someone's solution. I think, you know, I have respect for everyone. If God saw fit to put you on the earth, I have to see fit to respect you. That's what my father says.

And that's, I believe in that. But I'm sick of caring about whether or not white people really care about me. And I agree. You don't even have to. I totally understand that. Yeah. With you. That's not what I care about.

I get it. So I'm just sick and care. I don't want. to care about whether or not they really care about me. If you do really care about me, yo, man, let's piece it up. We go see Let's see Lethal Weapon again. Well, not lethal weapon because it stars Mel Gibson.

Whatever. Like, piece it up. We can, I was trying to think about black, white. See what I'm saying? I was trying to think of a black white buddy comedy. Think about that. Think about how fucked up shit is. I was trying to think of a black white buddy comedy.

And not only is lethal weapon a bad example because Mel Gibson is a racist. They also, the police. So think about that. I can only think of police examples. I'm trying to think of a, oh, white men can't jump. Oh, there you go. White men can't.

I like white men can jump. That's a good movie where we all get together and we play in basketball and shit and whatever, whatever, whatever. That was spirited, Big Rache. God damn, I like that. But you know what? I feel like I needed that. I just need it to. It's just hard right now, right?

I have so many emotions going on with everything that's happening in the world. That was a therapy session. Thank you guys for listening. Yeah. You listen to that new Beyonce? Speaking of listening. I did. Okay. Full confession. I'm not in the beehive. Are you? I don't think guys can be in it. Are you kidding me? I mean, maybe they don't, it's not self-recllaimed, but they're secretly.

I thought the beehive was for the ladies. But now, I'm cool. I guess if you could be in the beehive, what does it mean to be in the beehive? I mean, like you're like a stand, right? What are the Nikki? No, I'm in no hives, if that's the case. I'm not like, we're not waiting in line to get. tickets or... I would wait in line to see B... I would wait in line for Beyonce tickets

but I'm not gonna like just be down with whatever and I'm not in any of those. I'm not in any hives in this case. Like my friends think that that Beyonce's a family member.

We would be Michael Jackson in whatever of that. If that was present day, don't you look at me like that. If this was present day and Michael Jackson was still with us, we would be in whatever he was calling his fans.

But we're not on that level. That's the level. Okay, so we're not on that. I guess so. Anyways, Black Parade. I didn't even know about it until I opened up one of my group chats and they're talking about Beyonce's new song. Don't start with me. So I'm assuming then, wait a second, I'm assuming then that if you didn't know about Black Parade, that you don't have title.

That I don't have, oh, I don't have title. Wow. Am I supposed to? Did I lose? I'm supposed to say that I lose my black card. You don't lose it, but it's definitely a ripping it. So we all got to have title? It's black-owned.

It's a black-owned streaming service. We're definitely doing a poll because I want to know, and you can only vote if you're black. How are you going to know that? By the way, how are you going to even know that? Just check yourself. I'm going to do a vote. I'm going to put it up. I want to know if you have title.

But I have a friend who have titles because anyway, it's on Apple Music. I heard it on Apple Music. But Ty don't let you know. I heard it. You heard the song. Yeah. I loved it. I had to listen to it twice.

Because the first time I heard it, I was like, oh, lyrically, I like it. Second time I heard it, I listened to it in a different way, right? Because it's the 2020, say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud. Oh, God damn it, Rachel. You don't like that I said that? It's like, come on, man. Can we let James live? I met James Brown one time.

Hot that workout for you, did you? My mom stopped the car. We were in Atlanta on a family trip. My mom stopped the car in the middle of the street and says, Oh, Sam, stop the car. That's James Brown. And darted out the van. And I followed her.

And I took my little autograph book and I was like, excuse me, Mr. Brown, can I have your autograph? He gave me a kiss on my cheat. He was dressed in all black. He had gold-tipped shoes. I'll never forget a fresh-permed hair. It was laid down. So wait, your father's driving a car.

Let's get this right. This is a true story. Your father's driving a car, Did you remember where you guys were going? No, we were on a family vacation in Atlanta, you know, to visit all the historic stuff for black people. So your father then worked his ass off as a federal judge to take his family on vacation, right? He's driving somewhere. That's right.

And your mama sees James Brown and says, yo, stop the car and runs out of the car to James Brown. And your father, being a strong black man in here, has to sit in there and talk. push that way down. He just got to take that. Like my wife saw James Brown. He's a legend. Okay. So let's say the world's reverse.

Let's say that you guys are driving and your mom's driving and all of a sudden like, Diana Ross. Like Diana Ross is down there. And your dad goes, oh shit, baby. That's Diana Ross. Woo! And then I can't wait until my dad comes on the show so you can see he does not talk with that.

And then he runs out of the car after Diana Ross all up on her and stuff like that. Okay. What do you think? Whoa with the all up on. I didn't say my mama was all up on for James Brown. My mom probably would have stopped the car and gotten out and followed him to go meet Diana Ross too. Okay. Fine.

Anyway, that's just my James Brown story. So I disagree. But I get what you're trying to say. Yeah. Say a lot of black and I'm proud. It was kind of that sort of the same time. Yeah. It was a at first, when I first listened to it, I thought, oh, it's a protest song.

The second time I listened to it, I thought, no, this is a celebration. It's uplifting black culture and history. And she's talking about motherland drip and black fist and her hair and religion and energy. And I thought it was beautiful. It made you proud to be black. It felt good. And I think what I like the most not being in the Beehive is that Beyonce has gotten to a point where she can do what she wants. And I feel like she's finding her voice and she can be her true self.

I mean, she didn't find it in this song, I would say, you know, in the last four years. She's really been doing things that promote black culture and being black and being proud of the way that you look and where you come from. And so I appreciate that. And that was just another song just like this. Yeah. She's been doing that for a long time. Like it really. Like four years.

Like since the lemonade, since the Lemonade album, whenever that came out. No, remember when she came out to Super Bowl dress as the Black Panthers? That's around. That's the formation. That's around the formation. Is that true? I guess so. I thought the beehive stuff was before them.

But anyway, Beehive probably was. But I mean, just like. No, no, no. Yeah, just the black. Yeah, I get it. No, because she got with the mothers in the movement and all of that stuff like that. Yeah. Her and Jay have been for a long time sort of working with, you know, different families and making sure and bailing out civil rights people and making sure that people that attend these marches have what they need and stuff like that.

But I have some issues. with the Rock Nation people based upon the Colin Kaepernick stuff, but I definitely will definitely talk about that at a later day. I will say it's always a good time to listen to Beyonce. And I think that what we've seen in the last couple of weeks, and I don't want to gloss over the fact that I have an issue with Rock Nation and stuff with the Colin Kaepernick situation, that to me was a huge dent in the armor over there.

but, you know, still holding out hope that not only those two groups can get together and figure that out, but that the work that inspired change is doing with the NFL, that it becomes meaningful, and that it's all worth it. And, you know, you can only go on somebody's cultural cachet to do that. I know that Rod Nation and Beyonce and Jay do a lot to help families and to help people there are in this movement. and they do do. It's that they deserve credit for that. But just to be honest with you,

and Beyonce had nothing to do with it, that this was Jay-Z's thing. But to be honest with you, anytime I feel myself heaping praise on that camp, I catch myself. I catch myself. If you go back and you look at the Colin Kaepernick situation with the NFL,

Rock Nation, which Beyonce is not a part of. I keep saying that. I keep lumping her in with Jay-Z. That's not fair to her. No, it's not. It's not. But the whole thing, that doesn't sit right with me.

For all you know, she was fighting against it. You know, we don't know. I think that she had a problem with it. Look, has nothing to do with her. It's not fair to lump her into it. But still, even sometimes when I hear from home or when I hear from it, it's another thing, mean it. But damn, I need things to be made right with cap and this.

I just do. Man, that's just an honest reaction to it. Although the song is jamming. Yeah, it is. Biazza and them are taking care of business. If you go talk to any activists out there, they're going to tell you that if they do tell you, if they do get into who's funding them and making sure that they get out of jail and that they have what they need,

a lot of that stuff is kind of from Hovenby. And once again, everybody has different jobs. I don't have to be 100 with everything that they've done. But I need for the voice of Colin Kaepernick and Nessa and Eric Reed to be exalted and heard. And we didn't have to have a conversation about how we protect each other, even when the money is in the room as well. I agree with you 100%. Also, the proceeds for that song go to support small black businesses.

Right away. Another thing that Beyonce is doing. On Beyonce and Beyonce on her own put up a registry of black businesses on her website. And I'm sure that none of those black businesses that have benefited from Beyonce doing that, give a fuck about my opinion of Rod Nation or any of that stuff. Because they're out there eating and they're doing good. So when people are helping, they're helping and they're really sincerely helping. That one just hurt me.

I'm not mad at you. Don't get it confused. It's like don't, a lot of times we are one, just human nature, we forget. And so I'm not mad at you at bringing it up, even though it's not related to Beyonce, but it's just like, don't forget. Don't forget what happened and Rock Nation's role with the NFL when it came to Colin Kaepernick. Yeah. So I saw something very distressing.

I am, I believe. purple and gold. I don't know if you know that. I don't know if you know that. You're an omega? No, I'm not an omega. I'm not talking about, see, oh, wow, I'm surprised you knew that. I'm a delta. What? You're a delta. Oh, you're a delta? Whoa. What you do? You really just tried me. Delta Sigma Theta, proud. Yes. I didn't know that. I thought maybe you would be like, I don't know, pie kappa or one else. You know what? We don't have to talk about

quote, not being black enough. People try to check you for your blackness because that's exactly what you just did by trying to put me in alpha-capa, whatever. Alpha-cappa Sigma. You rushed? Did you rush? Was it rush week? No, I didn't.

I pledged. Hey, man, shout out to you, by the way, on some real shit. I'm not in any of those. You are. And you were the head of the black, you were the vice president. No, I'm saying.

Shout out to you. Somebody wrote me about that. I remember. remember you in the African-American culture Congress, Vice President. I was on a step team. Oh, okay. Rachel. You know what, y'all?

This is an example of somebody trying to check my blackness. And we're going to have a full conversation on this. We're going to have a full conversation. Go ahead and talk about your bleeding purple and gold. Let me tell you something. And by the way, what I'm about to say actually is actually whiter because I'm talking about

a PWA. I'm talking about LSU. I'll bleed purple and gold because I'm from Baton Rouge. I like LSU. Went to LSU. So you actually went, it's so crazy how this goes, because you actually went

blacker than me right there. Because I said purple and gold. When I think purple and gold, I don't think Omega. I immediately. My uncles are omegas. I says all I think. Word up.

Word up. Score one for Rachel. Score. That's one biscuit for you. No, LSU. I saw down in LSU, at least 100 people that visited Tiger Land.

Tiger Land is like an area down Nicholson Drive, back in the day. I've been. You've been a Tiger Land before? I've been. Remember, I dated a guy from Zachary. I've been. Oh, wow. Okay. So you're getting loose at Reggies and whatnot. That's two points.

Two points right there. So, yeah, Tiger Land. Tidal Land isn't black, by the way. Tiger Land is, that's why it gets. Like, when you were going to Regis or Fred's, there was like a little picture outside. You know these pictures. Where it would have this picture, and they would say, don't dress like this guy. And that was a, that nigga looked like Jaru. Like, he had to have the white.

t-shirt and chains and all that stuff like that and it would be right so uh but apparently a hundred people who had gone to tigerline recently tiger land has reopened up they tested positive for coronavirus ls u s u.s.s quarantined 30 members of the football team there is a full-on coronavirus covid-19 outbreak in bad and ruge and is affecting athletes on college campuses this is my question you went to uti okay i went to lsu we went undefeated last year won the national championship and that the road to that national championship was right through the middle of Texas. One beat UT at UT. We're supposed to play this year.

Supposed to play this year at LSU. It's one thing when you talk about professional athletes who are getting paid to make decisions about their families and about their futures and about their health. When you're talking about college athletes who are, I know it doesn't feel this way, guys, but they're kids. Yeah. Is it fair to make these guys play for free in all sports and subject them, a lot of these guys, let's face it, the majority of them in the big money sports are young African American males? Is it fair to make them play and potentially expose themselves, both in practice and in games to COVID-19?

Should the NCAA at this point with what's happening at Texas, by the way, at Clemson, at LSU, the virus is not gone, people, should they just call off all seasons and try to bring things back in 2021? Yeah, it hurts me to say this. But they, you, the way things are going right now, I do not see how college football can be played at all, even if you do have the players in a bubble. So what's important to note is that voluntary workouts started June 1st. So since voluntary workout started, you have seen.

this right. Well, I don't know if they've been tested before, but basically they have been tested at this point. They're around each other. And you've seen the 30 players at LSU, 28 athletes at Clemson, UT 13 players, Kansas State, 14 players, University of Houston, six players. And then other players, Alabama, Mississippi, South Florida, Auburn, Florida State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State. I look this up. Texas State and Troy University have all have football players that have tested positive. I feel like professional leagues need to take note at what's happening right now in the collegiate level and figure out that it's probably not likely that sports can be played, period, because once you have a few people that have it, it turns into an outbreak. And to answer your question, Van, it's not fair to subject these amateur athletes, however you want to label them, not getting paid. It's not fair to subject them to these conditions. and you have the 30 football players at UCLA who are petitioning for additional petitions.

I don't know if you saw that, but they have this document where basically they're saying that they want a third party official to step in who can observe that the COVID-19 prevention protocols are being followed. I mean, these players are trying to fight for their right. It's very similar to them fighting for the right to use their likeness and image or for the universities to not use them. the fact that they're not getting paid, but the university is making money off of them, the fact that they want them to play, but they're subjecting themselves to this virus, which still is very unknown in how it affects people so randomly,

it's not fair that these players could potentially have to play just so they can supply money to these universities who depend on them playing. Because we all know the football teams are how the whole university is pretty much financed. The whole thing. And it's weird. And I've heard a lot of people say this,

and I'm not sure about the truthfulness of it. There might be a situation where the NCAA or college football can't afford or the universities can't afford not to play the season. I mean, the amount of money that LSU brings in, I think it's something like $60 or $70 million a year or something for the school. So, yeah, they might have to. But then you get into a weird situation, right? Well, not even a weird situation. If it's not safe to fucking play, then it's not safe to

fucking play. And to be honest with you, just anecdotally, I'm not Tony Fauci, you know, but just anecdotally, it doesn't seem safe. It seems like what we have out there is an incredibly determined, extremely contagious disease that hasn't gone anywhere. And in sports, especially football, where you're rolling around, writhing around, all of that stuff, you're in the huddle. There's no way to make football

a safe sport to play in the era of COVID. So I don't understand the only choice that you guys have is to try a bubble which in college football would never work because there are too many teams.

Even the no fans thing, it's not a, it doesn't, the safety of the players is not going to be, it doesn't affect the safety of the players. So I don't know how they're going to do this.

It doesn't seem... Dr. Fauci said, since you brought up old Tony Fauci, he said that unless players are essentially in a bubble insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day. That's the only way he could see

football coming back in the fall. That's impossible. You see these teams. They can't control their athletes. They can't keep watch on everything that they're doing and making sure that they are staying in their bubble or in their dorms or hotels or wherever they may have them sequestered. That's like 100 plus players that you got to keep tabs on.

It's not happening. By the way, I have higher learning breaking news. Whoa. Breaking news. Go for it. So apparently there's now a war going on between Revolt TV and M&M. Like, why? Where did this even start?

You know, of course you know Revolt TV, Puffies. Everyone knows Revolt TV. I actually went to the conference that happened in L.A. Thank you. Oh, by the way, oh, you were there? You were there at the L.A. And I know you were there because I saw you. I was there, yeah.

I was there to interview Diddy, actually. Oh, wow. I was there to interview Killer Mike. Let's have a black off. By the way, you're winning in the black off this episode. It's not even close. It's not even close. So Revolt TV, the official Revolt TV

Twitter page, just tweeted out. Fuck you too, Eminem. Okay, but where is this coming from? Apparently, Eminem on a new song with Eminem and Conway. Shout out to Griselda. Shout out to West Side Gun, Conway the Machine, and Benny the butcher, man.

Shout out to Griselda, man. Crazy. Apparently, Eminem on a song with Conway said something about Revolt. We're going to get to the bottom of this and Revolt TV, a whole black news network, a whole black network period. Shout out to Puff. Shout out to Tark. Shout out to everybody over at Revolveld. Shout out to everybody over at Combs Enterprises. Shout out to

Roma. Everybody, all my people over at Revolta, everybody. They said, fuck you to Eminem. I can't. I don't have the lyrics right now. Where are the lyrics? That's what I'm trying to figure out. Yeah. And look, and look what's happening now. Is he canceled? No, I don't think it's canceled. Now you have a lot of people coming on here.

See, this is what happens. What happens is what people have to choose a side. Oh, you see what's happening here? Well, he diss Joe Budden as well. Oh, he diss Joe Button. Oh. M. M.

Diss Joe Button. Wait, he brings up Joe Button's incident with the Migos and Disses Diddy's Revolt TV network in a league version of the song. Can I say something for a second. Mm-hmm. Can I really say something for a second? Please, please. Eminem has no fucking business dis and revolt.

Eminem has no fucking business diss and revolt. Eminem has lost his motherfucking mind. Let's be real. If Eminem got problems with Budin, if Eminem and Joe got problems on some real shit, all jokes aside, if Eminem and Joe got problems and problems that date back to Joe's opinion on Eminem

on everyday struggle. Maybe some stuff Joe used to be signed with Eminem on Slaughterhouse. Piece it up and wrap the way you fucking want to rap to Joe Button, about Joe Button. You all have Joe Button came out. I guess he decided that he was going to keep a real about some of the stuff that Em was doing

when he was doing his fucking job on everyday struggle and talking about that, talking about him as a rapper, which it was his job to do or on his podcast. Joe has his own opinions. That's what he does. I haven't heard the song and I need to hear the song

Would you like to know what the lyrics say? Let me know what the lyrics say. Is Joe affiliated with Revolt? Joe hosts a show for Revolt called State of the Culture. Okay. Right. Minus one.

Okay. He says, quote, shout out to Puffy Combs, but fuck Revolt. Y'all are like a fucked up remote. Now I get it why our buttons broke. Because you're pressing him doing nothing though especially when it comes to

to punch and thrones. Okay so look here's the thing Revolt is a black entertainment network. Puff is the head of Revolt but Revolt a company who I've worked with before is a black entertainment network

Eminem doesn't have the cultural cachet to fucking disrevolte. Eminem owes his career okay. Yeah. He owes his career to black music.

If Eminem has a problem with Puff on his own, cool. If Eminem has a problem with Joe Button on his own, cool. If Revol would have come out and said fuck Eminem, which I don't think that they've

ever done, then that's one thing too. But Eminem cannot come out because of an affiliation. And if I'm I'm wrong about this and if there's more information about this and if M was supposed to have a show on revolt and shit went sideways or whatever, whatever. But that don't rub me the right way.

Yeah. That rubs me the wrong way for M&M to come out and be like, fuck revolt. Because he's saying fuck my man Cass who got a show on revolt. He's saying fuck all the other people. He's saying fuck Remy Ma. He's saying fuck Jinks. He's saying fuck all of them. You know what I'm saying?

He's saying fuck everybody that fucks with revolt. Except for Diddy. That's apparently the only one. But you can't say fuck revolt and still not be talking about Diddy. But what I'm saying is that, like, you, we have to watch the amount of comfortability that we let people, even like Eminem get inside of the culture. I'm not saying that the culture is just for black people. What I'm saying is that we created it, we curated it, and it's in our hands. And you can't take it out.

Sure. Would you be mad at anybody who said, fuck revolt, are you just specifically mad at Eminem being white? I'm mad because Eminem is white. Okay. Explain that though Why is it? Because a black person can say that revolt made them as well, right? Like that's that they made, I mean, revolt didn't make M, but I'm just saying they, like, it's black culture.

Like you're saying, you're basically saying like fuck black culture in a way. So why is it different for a black, for black rapper said it versus M? Why are you holding them to a different standard? Um, because I feel like there has to be a different level of sensitivity. for a guy like Eminem. And I think to be, to his credit, to be honest with you, that in the past,

Eminem has displayed that sensitivity. Eminem was the first rapper to win an Academy Award. He won it for Best Song, right? And when he got up there, he knew how crazy that is. When he got up there, he thanked all the rappers before him

that had made that sort of possible, right? I think we haven't hit the point to where a black institution that serves black culture can have a white guy, no matter who that white guy is, that exists on that culture, right? Like Eminem feeds himself

and has fed himself on that culture. You can't turn around to that whole outlet and say fuck them, okay? Because you're not just saying you can't excuse Puff. You can't separate Puff and then say, fuck, we'll vote. Yeah, it's the same thing.

You might as well have just said fuck Puff. You're saying fuck all the black people that work over there. You're saying fuck the black culture that revolt is trying to represent. You're saying fuck the black culture that revolt is trying to be a part of. You're saying all of that. Eminem don't get to do that. I don't give a fuck.

Like Eminem, I love Eminem. I love the way he raps. I love the way, like I've been loving Eminem. Emily is don't get to do that. Like he doesn't. He doesn't get to say fuck a bunch of black people because he's mad at a couple. I'd be interested in knowing the story behind what made him. him say, you know what, I want to release a song.

It's not like he's just been releasing music like that. And in this song, I'm going to go after somebody that's, or not somebody, just an entity that's important to black culture. I want to, I'm not excusing it. I'm just very curious as to what motivated him to do this. I don't know either. Apparently this song was a leak. I don't know if M did not mean for this to come out.

But this is the kind of thing that I'm talking about. There's, listen, there's room enough for the, in the. for the culture and the art and everything, for everyone to have a good time and all of that, man. But I tell you what, like, we don't interlope in other cultures and then go in there and disrespect the houses like that.

We don't do that. Yeah. No, I get you. There's a different standard for M. And he knows that. And he knows that. And he's shown that in the past. So I'm wondering how to fuck he,

he's wilding now. He doesn't get to say, that's why I want to know. This is a typical. A home house full of black people. It's not typical. behavior, which is why I'm like, what made you do this? Especially during these times, though.

You know what the fuck is Eminem thinking? During these times. It's like he really got to be walling in a major way to think that he is going to say fuck revolt right now and someone like me or anyone that has either been over there, work with those people, broke bread with them, who knows what they're trying to do, right? That we're going to be cool with that. Van, do you feel like he said fuck you to you too? Shut up, big wretch.

People, but more than that, okay, let me calm down. I'm sorry, people don't like when I scream. Okay, I'm sorry. I got to stop screaming. I'm upset. That upset me. First of all, it's disappointing. Let me talk, let me talk regular.

Let me put it on. Let me put on the, hey. No, as you would tell me, talk your shit. No, no, no, because let me put on the Bryant Gumble. Okay, this is today on higher learning with Van Lapen. This is it. It is incredibly inappropriate and tone deaf for Eminem if it was his intent for this song to have come out. At this particular moment, maybe this wasn't his intent.

Maybe we'll hear more from him. Hopefully we hear more from him. But Eminem, there is no amount of cultural cachet where Eminem will ever be able to come out and say, fuck a black institution. Yeah. There's too many black people that work hard to put content on the screen for Revolt, to put content on the web for Revolt, to represent. the culture through their jobs at Revolt.

And I'm not just talking about Revolt, man. I'm talking about BET. I'm talking about Centric. I'm talking about TV One. I'm talking about any of them, right? Any of them. A lot of black blood, sweat, and tears goes to those places. If what you're doing is dependent on those people to continue to push your shit,

these are the same people that made you who you are, you can't come back and from outside of what we are. Let's just be real. Eminem's a white dude. And to come back, you're not comfortable enough. to say fuck them, that doesn't sit well with me. Yeah. I don't like.

We need to be continued. To be continued. We'll have an update for you next time. We'll have an update for you next time. I, I, uh, I got to get ready. I got to get ready. It's a little over two hours before my first session. Oh, we back to the Madden.

I want a full report. I want you to tell me why somebody else should hire a Madden's specialists when we talk next time. Like, why it was beneficial? Was it a waste of your time? I know that throughout your tone of voice that you're hoping that it was a waste of my time. I mean, I'm just not into, you know, gaming, so. Okay, well, and you dissed it. Look, that's going to be enough for you.

On the next episode, we are going to make sure that we have thoroughly vetted and investigated this M&M situation so we'll know whether or not my rant was foolhardy or whether or not I'm deserved it, but it will stay in the podcast in its entirety because those are my feelings. I liked it, though. You liked it. Because I think it's a bigger, there's a bigger issue with it. When you step into, when you don't look like the culture that you're becoming a part of,

there's certain rules that you have to play by. So I understood what you were saying. Right. Yeah, I get it. Thought warriors. You can take you think caps off, but do not stop thinking. we will hit you back with another special episode of higher learning.

You know what? That's one of the worst wrap-ups I've done. Wait, do you have an unexpected ally of the week? No, we don't do that until the end of the week. Oh, okay. Yikes. I'm new to the show. Rachel can't wait for unexpected ally of the week,

which we will give to you on the next episode. You got a good one? We'll save it. The anticipation. Tune in next time. All right, thought warriors. Take your thing gets off. Don't stop thinking, hire learning,

Vanley, through Richelands, we are after.