The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Brandon Scott & Erricka Bridgeford Talk The Body Politic Documentary, Baltimore Peace Movement + More

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Brandon Scott & Erricka Bridgeford To Discuss The Body Politic Documentary, Baltimore Peace Movement. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ, Envy, Jess, Hilarious, Charlamagne, the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. We got some special guests in the building.

We have the mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott. Welcome. And also we have Erica Bridgeford, who is from the Baltimore Peace Movement. Welcome. Now, I do have to ask a question before you start. I have to make sure that you guys are really from Baltimore. So I want you to read this.

Can you read it out loud, guys? It's going to be a bunch of... I'm fine. Earn, earned, and iron, earned. There you go. I don't know what that sounds like. It was Aaron earned and iron, earned. I don't know what he said. It's not even a real sentence.

Who was earned? Why did he have to earn and iron, earn? I don't understand. That's the same word you just said four times. All right, so they all from Baltimore. I heard the accent. Yes, they are. Welcome. You should just ask us a greeting. Thank you.

Yes, we'd have been like, eeeerrrrrrr. What you guys are doing. Wow. We're going to start right out like that. Okay, that's fast. That's right. That's right. Well, welcome guys.

How you guys feeling for the first four weeks? We good. We good. We good, brother. Congrats on your second term, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Long time coming, Jess.

You know the last time we had a two term mayor in Baltimore, I was a sophomore in college 20 years ago. It's been 20 years since we had it. So it's a big deal and an honor for me to have the city say like, no, we wanna keep moving in this direction, especially from someone that grew up there when we grew up there

Understand everything that has been happening. So what made you want to become a mayor of Baltimore? So this is a real easy thing man. So I grew up in Park Heights, right? It's a place in Northwest Baltimore It's the best neighborhood. Sorry, Jess. Oh my god That's what I'm trying to say, it's about over what, so I don't know what you're even talking about right now, but we gonna let you finish. So imagine, Envy, living in a neighborhood, literally, so the horse race, Preakness, is in my neighborhood. Imagine living in a neighborhood

that's the center of the world every third Saturday in May, then every other day of the year, you're not treated as human, where we wouldn't even go outside on Friday night before Preakness because they would do what we call pregness sweeps. If you was outside, looked like us, you could be gone. But the next day, somebody who don't look like us

could be peeing in the middle of the street and no one blinks. But before I was even seven years old, I saw someone get shot outside playing basketball and no one cared. And literally, I just started pestering my parents, my uncles, my grandparents a lot, why no one cared. And literally I just start pestering my parents, my uncles, my grandparents a lot, why no one cared. And one day my mom just said, look,

if you wanted to change, you gotta change yourself. No one's coming to save us. And having my family be involved in the community, my uncle dragging me with him to political fundraisers when people were trying to get my family's business to donate, I had the understanding of what people should have been doing and who wasn't doing it. So I said then that that's what's business to donate. I had the understanding of what people should have been doing and who wasn't doing it.

So I said then that that's what I wanted to be. Mm-hmm. At a very young age, you already knew. Already knew. Because I was about to ask you, what made you not go the other way? You know what I'm saying? Because while I'm going to give credit to your hood, while Park Heights is one of the best hoods in West Baltimore City,

it is still also one of the most dangerous. Yeah. You know, what made you not go the other way? It's a little different now. the best hoods in West Baltimore City, it is still also one of the most dangerous. You know, what made you not go? It's a little different now. I tell the youngins and like y'all have no idea. Y'all don't know the old Park Heights. But for me, it's about, it's a couple of things. It's my family, right?

Like so, I am a first generation Baltimorean. My mom's family is from rural Virginia, right outside of Richmond. My grandparents moved to Baltimore. Ironically, people don't know this, they're gonna know now, to East Baltimore, with $300 to their name, where them, my great-grandmother, my great-aunts,

all my older cousins lived in this one house right behind North Avenue, the school headquarters. And then my dad's family, my dad followed my uncles and my older cousins who moved here from rural North Carolina where my grandparents ran a pig farm until they died, right? Which is why I don't eat pork because I used to feed them myself. But when you come from things like that, you have a different setting. I was set in a world where like you don't have to accept things as they are. You can work harder, you can be greater

and you have a responsibility to us and those who put you in this position to take us all and your community in a further place. But I also had the community itself, growing up running track as an athlete and playing sports. Ironically, it was also the people that were deciding who lived or died or who with the beef was in the neighborhood

who said, like, you have to be better than us. We want you to be better. Do not let us hear about you getting into any trouble or things like that. And if even some of my family members who worked for them were putting me in danger, they would check them, right? It was just a different time. So I would say I had the entirety of the city

that really pushed me to make sure that I became a better version of myself and working to be the best version. Now, what can a mayor actually really do, right? We look at, you know, the reason I ask is, you know, people will say the vice president is the vice president, but what can she do? You know, the president can do certain things,

but she has to get things signed off on. So what can a mayor actually do? Do you control funding? Do you control? I do. So as the mayor of Baltimore- I do. My bad, go ahead.

So I do. And I think what people have to understand is the mayor is an executive of the city. Essentially every mayor, especially in the strong mayor form of government, like Baltimore is, actually Baltimore is the strongest form of mayor of government in the country. So technically, I'm the strongest mayor in the country. We do get to direct that funding, right? And it's about, and no disrespect,

I love my vice president to death. I love my president to death. But the president would tell you that mayors have the toughest job in America because people can see us and touch us every day and decisions that we make every day are going to impact people and they're going to hold you accountable even for stuff that you're not responsible for. But when you think about the basic things that people need,

essentially I'm the CEO of a $3 billion, $4 billion entity known as the city of Baltimore, right? Everything that people do, when they turn that water on in the morning, they want it to be hot and clean, it's my responsibility. When they want their trash picked up, it's my responsibility. When they want their rec center opened up, it's my responsibility.

When they call 911 and have to have a fire truck come, it's my responsibility to make sure that that stuff happens. But at a deeper level, it also is important to make sure that when it's someone like me, who has that lived experience that Jess, Erica, and I have, that we bring that to that job and understanding that things, we're talking about our city, literally,

is the birthplace of racial redlining in Baltimore, and everything that we all grew up through is a result of that. So when you think about things that I've just been able to do in my first term, and what's really been like the focal point of this documentary, The Body Politics, it's about reimagining what public safety means

because for all of our life, they just said reducing crime is the sole responsibility to the police. But I want people to understand how that was never true, right? And you take Baltimore, a city that's roughly 600,000 people. At its height, our police department had 3,000 cops. 3,000 people can't keep 600,000 people safe, especially when they all don't work at the same time, right? So we have to do the investments in changing that,

and we can do that. The mayor sets the tone for how the city works. So I came in and said, no longer are we gonna just say, hey, it's all the police's responsibility. Every part of city government has to be a part of this. We passed a law that we have to have a comprehensive approach that's led by a health commissioner,

and then direct the funding to go to other places. So when you look at the fact that we're now funding our community violence intervention work at the highest level that we've ever had, people that used to be in the streets, whether it's Safe Streets or the brothers there, we are us and all these other folks who go out and intercede in violence highest level that we've ever had. People that used to be in the streets, whether it's Safe Streets or the brothers that We Are Us and all these other folks who go out

and intercede in violence and we're investing in them and allow them to do that. Deciding that we weren't gonna just continue down this path or just like, oh, if they black and outside, we just gonna lock them up for anything. No, we're gonna stand up what we call our group violence reduction strategy, which is the epicenter really of the movie,

and say we know who the people are, who will most likely be the victim or perpetrator of violence. It's much like any other disease, right? Since my granddad had prostate cancer, when I go to the doctor, what did he test me for? So we identify those people, and we're gonna give them a chance first.

They actually get a letter directly from me that says, look, in Baltimore terms, Jess, yo, I know who you are, I know what you're doing. This is your chance. I know where you live. I know everything about what you do. I'm telling you, this is your chance to change your life. If you need housing, if you need to finish school, if you need, you know, mental health,

whatever you need, we'll give it to you. But don't try to call my bluff, because if you call my bluff, then them boys coming, and you won't be able to say, no one tried to help me. And it's working, and we've been able to. Last year, we had the largest reduction in homicides that Baltimore's ever had in 20%, and we're beating that this year with 24. Mayors make the difference on the ground.

When you think about what we're investing in, I decided that we were gonna put historic amounts of money into our rec centers. When we were growing up, they were closing them left and right, right? So imagine me going into the doors of Tawanda Rec Center in 1989 when I was in pre-K, and then becoming mayor in 2020,

and going there early 2021, and it literally was the same building. Nothing had changed, the same weight equipment, and the building was closed, right? And then being able to reopen that, right, renovate it, and now we had five more that were building across the city, and that's only because the mayor decided that's the focus, right?

And that's what we have to do in every city, is have people in those positions that will do, as I always say, the right thing, not the popular one, because there are a lot of things that I did that people were like, I can't believe you didn't do that. For example, they said I should join on to the state's lawsuit around opioids. The state was suing all these drug companies.

I said no, we're gonna do our own because we were impacted more. People called me everything but my name and then lo and behold now we're like receiving 400 plus million dollars from these companies from doing it our way. Leadership doesn't mean being like it means doing what's the best thing for the people. And when you when you wrote that letter we'll get to you in a second Erica. When you when you wrote that letter where did you get that idea from writing the letter? So yeah so this is about knowing the work, right?

So GBRS, Group Violence Reduction Strategy, or Focus Return, is a model that's been around for a long time, and it works in cities. It worked in Oakland and all these places. They tried it twice in Baltimore before. And me, so this, I'm 40 now. I came to City Hall when I was 23, so I literally up there and seeing the last attempt fail and why I knew that I wanted to go deeper into the work but also that the number one reason why great ideas and programs and things that fail in cities It's because they don't have the executive leadership and buy-in. Because if it comes from me, if this is the mayor's strategy,

everybody else that works for city government knows that they gotta do it or they just gotta get another job. That's the reality and that's why. And we have to do the notifications because if not, it's no different than that's just showing up. And we use what we call credible messengers to go and deliver that message and say, look, if they want to give you a chance. And people change their life.

And I think... So who you giving chances to? Is it shooters? Is it... Is everybody. Everybody. So you don't look at you like, look, you did this, turn your life around and go like that.

Look, you're doing this stuff right now. We know that you're involved in activities that might end up having you lose your life or take someone else's life. This your chance. Like, your group of people that you're with, chances are y'all ain't gonna be here or you gonna be locked up.

That's the reality. We gotta tell people the real deal. And if they don't, like, take that heed. They're people that took it, right? There was a young man, it almost brought me to tears. We just had a little graduation for some folks through YAP on Saturday. And you can see a lot of this work in the Bali politic,

which is airing next Monday night on PBS. We gonna get into it, yeah, absolutely. We gonna get into it. But you can see what happens, right? This young man literally said that he, one young man had been out and on the street since he was 12. And no one ever asked him what he wanted to do

or how he can do things different until our folks showed up. Now he works for the convention center. Saturday, a young man had told us he had been out of school since elementary school and out there doing what folks do, right? Now we got him on the right track. People are working for the city. People are starting their own businesses

and being able to reconnect with their families or just simply having a house, right? Like that stuff changes people's lives. And then there's some folk who just tell me, as we would say, just kick rocks. And then I'm like, okay. And then that's when they got to deal with the boys. And you can't say that we didn't try to tell you

that there's or show that there's another way. There are people out there delivering that message every day. Like, yo, we can do something different. Because we also have to understand, like, look, we all know our people don't own boats, right? We don't own gun companies. We have to understand what's really happening in that cycle that we're allowing ourselves to be put in.

And we're trying to pull people out of that as much as possible. But we can't just have people shooting and killing people, grandmothers and babies and kids and wives and all the other craziness. We just simply can't have that. Absolutely. Erica, how did you get involved with the Baltimore Peace Movement? Well it used to be called Baltimore Ceasefire because there was this guy named Ogun. So first there was a 300-Man March movement.

That's how Brandon and I met. Brandon and Munir Bahar were leaders in that movement. And I got very much involved because my son got involved in the very first march. They did a march from west to east, Hilton all the way to middle. All the way across North Avenue. All the way across North Avenue.

My son did that march and got very much involved. And I got so involved that Munir said, oh, you should be a spokesperson. So I became on the leadership team. So during that movement, somebody named Ouh, Derek Jones in Baltimore, he was a big leader, educator. He passed away suddenly. So a lot of the men in his life and women got involved in 300. And in November of 2015, after Freddie Gray was killed,

there were over 300 people got, like we hit 300 murders in November that year. And so the 300 Men March Movement called a state of emergency for the city, a community meeting. And a lot of OOZ people showed up there. And one of them was this guy named Ogun who had this idea about calling a ceasefire because he just, you know, he watching the news and he sees what's happening and Israel occupied Palestine and keeps hearing the word ceasefire.

And he's like, that's the only thing that made him pay attention to the news is because he heard that word. So he wanted Baltimore to have that same kind of like introspection but also eyes on it from the outside. So he had this idea that they would just be one day where everybody agreed in Baltimore it's going to be a ceasefire. He took the idea to different men who was like yo that shit dumb, it's not gonna work. Not me.

Not him. Right. Brandon said look I ain't see that shit dumb. It's not gonna work. Not me. Not him. Right. Right. Brandon said, look, I ain't see that. Right. Brandon was like, I ain't say that. Right. And so he brought it to me at that meeting. He was like, I heard a lot about you. I see how you move. I feel like you're the person I should be talking to this about. Two years later in 2017, the city had more murders than it had ever had in its history, which pissed me off because I had been out doing work all day long, the mediation center, I've been doing that work forever. And so I'm mad, like how the fuck is this what's happening

when we doing this much work? And they like pointing, the people who say they got connections to the gangs, why don't they tell niggas to stop shooting? Because if they say it's gonna happen. The next day when I woke up still that mad about it, I realized that I was they. I'm mad about what people not doing.

And I hadn't followed through on this man's idea from two years ago. So I called him up and was like, what you say you wanted to do? Because God put on my heart, it shouldn't just be one day, it should be three days, and violence is a language. So if we taking violence, we got to replace it with something. Let's tell people, yo, do stuff to celebrate life.

Because if nobody deserves to celebrate life, Baltimore does. So just create events that's fun, that's celebrating life, Friday through Sunday. Brandon was one of the first people I called to say, this is what we think about doing. Before I could finish this sentence, he was like, oh yeah, we're doing it. What you need? So at first, we were it, what you need? So, at first we were just calling it a life over death weekend.

And to Brandon's point about the last program that was the GVRS, it had been called a ceasefire. And all the streets knew it to be was the police come and lock you up. So, when we held this community meeting to ask, what do we name this Life Over Death weekend, people were like, well if you call it Baltimore Ceasefire, people know what that means.

And we put a sister component of the Peace Challenge, because there's gonna be a lot of people being like, I wasn't gonna shoot nobody this weekend anyway, so they not talking to me. Right, but that's how people did it. But next weekend, I might have a couple niggas. But this weekend I was chilling anyway. I was, you know?

And so we wanted people to know the fact that you saying that shit is violent. Yeah. Like, violence is not just about shooters. It's about who you being petty with in your own family. Who you dragging on social media. Like, can you be peaceful for three days as a challenge to yourself? But we were worried that because it would be called ceasefire, it would get confused with the previous city program that people...

And so we were like, but Baltimore is smart. If somebody say, oh, that's that shit where the police... We were like, no, that was that. This is this. And people gonna understand. And they did. And it... So at the time the ceasefire started in May of 2017, people were being killed every 19 hours in Baltimore. So we had that first weekend in August of 2017.

The city went 41 hours that weekend without anybody getting killed. And although people be like, well, that ain't nothing. You say that shit till you get the phone call. Yeah, tell us something you know. Right, so when we hit 24 hours, we was like, wait a minute, bitch, we might have did something. Right.

41 hours, but also when, wait a minute bitch, we might have did something. Right. You know, 41 hours, but also, when the first person got killed, we went, showed up at the space, we blessed the space where the murder happened, we found his family, his family got money and resources, and Kingdom Life Church showed up and gave his mother the funeral, and she literally said, if her son was going to be killed,

she was glad it happened during the ceasefire weekend. And that's some wild shit to say, but that's really what she meant. Because she was like, if he got killed last weekend or next weekend, nobody would have cared about my son. It wouldn't even have been publicized. Right. So everybody that was like, well, let's do it, but it's not going to work. We was like, okay, we're going to do it every three months though. So we started doing it every three months. We started blessing murder spaces all year round. In 2022, it occurred to me that the way creation actually works is whatever you focus on,

your attention on with intense emotion, that's what you're going to manifest physically. So we're calling it ceasefire, and we're paying so much attention to what we're against. We're not putting that energy on what we're calling it ceasefire and we're paying so much attention to what we're against. We're not putting that energy on what we're for. Because when you read direct your focus to what you're for, you don't give a fuck about what you're against. You like this about what I'm for, what I'm standing on.

Yeah. So we said we asked Baltimore, what do you know already exists here? What are you for? What do you want for yourself? And from different places, the ideas came, it should be Baltimore Peace Movement. So we changed the name to focus more on what we want, what we are for, what we know we can uplift in the city. And this work is important to me, because since I'm 52 years old,

that's when y'all go, girl you look good. Yeah, right. Virginia, let me know. She like, bitch, I already know. I got you, I got you. You do look good. Thank you look good. Yeah, right. Kajini, let me know. You got your glasses. She like, bitch, I already know. I got you, I got you. You do look good. Thank you very much. So I started seeing people get killed

when I was 12 years old. My brother was, one of my brothers was killed in 2007. My cousins have, like just countless people. And that kind of pain and trauma is either gonna swallow you up whole or it's gonna push you forward into your purpose so that other people don't have to experience what you experience and so the the pain of my life and Understanding that they are now ancestors fighting with me on the other side

Whispering moving pieces for me on the other side. Like when I did not follow my calling, I was suicidal and tried to kill myself. And so I'm aware, like I gotta do what my soul tells me to do or else I'm gonna end up back on the psych ward and I'm not gonna make it. Cause I shouldn't have made it this far. And survivors remorse can become a real thing, right? When I've heard bullets flying past my ear, I shouldn't be here for a lot of reasons. But my parents had me on purpose. They said, oh, let's have a boy who's gonna change the world. So I came out, a girl kinda acting like a boy.

Hey, yeah, hey, yeah. I was about to say, this one of these moments. And I like girls and boys, so I kinda get through. You know what I'm saying? I get to do, I get to, I get to kinda do other things. But they knew, so they were gonna name me Malcolm, Patrice, had I been born a boy, but they named me Erka, after Erka Huggins,

and my middle name is Angela, after Angela Davis. So it's not lost on me. She has two R's in her name. Two R's, my father fucking misspelled my name, yo. Erka Huggins only has one R in her name. He thought it was two, so I was reading the autobiography of Angela Davis in my 20s, and she mentions Arca-Huggins, and I'm like,

they spelled Arca's name wrong! And then I'm like, mine is mine! I called my father like, yo, you spelled my name wrong! He said, oh well, and you was born with less fingers and more letters, you special, because I was born like this. Also, you was born like that, okay. I was born like this. Also, you was born like that. I was born like this, yeah.

I thought it was just because you from Baltimore. That's what I thought. I had a couple of arms. See, look, that's twice, yo. It's a mis-valid. That's twice. I've come before it all the way. Your Ravens are doing well.

Your Ravens are doing well. Ain't no football happening up here. We ain't going to be there long. Nothing happening. We ain't going to eat this up. Tell us, I want you to tell us about the body politic documentary. Why it's so important, why people should go check it out. Which hold up, which I actually did watch.

And I love it because, you know, he of course Brandon sent it to me. I love it because it speaks to people in Baltimore of all ages, like my son. That's something that I can watch with my son. Even how it comes on is like, we have the most, I always say, we got the most authentic mayor. And I've met a lot of mayors in traveling, and I've been honored by certain mayors in different cities and stuff. But we have, Baltimore,

we have one of the most authentic mayors, the way he speaks, the way he talks, the way he loves his city, and how he actually went through shit. And it's not just a polished, because you think of a man, it's a polished person. It's like, oh, this person is perfect.

And this person, like, no, Brandon is literally the most down to earth. And don't let his temple pop out. You know what I'm saying? His whole state be like, Brandon. Absolutely, yes. I don't think you can say that. When I looked over and seen this nigga at my section

at my birthday party, I'm like, hold up, hold up, why you got your own section? I don't know if you in my section and shit. And he like, no, you come see me. They told me it at my birthday party. I'm like, hold up, why you got your own section? I don't know if you're in my section or shit. And he like, nah, you come see me. They told me it was your birthday party and I had to come. I was like, all right, Jess party, I'm there. But he is. It wasn't my fault, the air wasn't on, that wasn't me.

First of all, you didn't have to let nobody know what no air in my body was. You bringing in my, not telling me. It was the building. It was the section. It was the building. Swim in the section. It was hot as hell in there.

It was the building. It was hot and nervous Swim in the section. It was hot as hell in there. It was hot building. I was hot and nervous in the building. That's Dave's fault. That's Dave Calzell's fault. Wasn't no air in that goddamn building. They looking at me like, can you call it? I'm like, what the hell am I going to do? They blame the mayor.

I'm like, this is the mayor's fault. Jazz party, ain't had no air. I'm like, and a private building. I'm like, what the hell do I got to do with this? Come on, yo. Like I was saying, yo, he's actually somebody that actually can touch the people, can actually say, I've walked that walk,

and I know why things are like this and things are like, and making the city a better place. But I love that the doc is something that my whole family can watch. Because when you think about, oh shit, the mayor just dropped the documentary, you looking to not understand it because I'm a person that's not really into politics you know what I'm saying but the fact that I

understood the whole thing you know me my son my man we watched it you know my mom I sent of course I sent it to her as well and it is amazing and it's not out yet it is it is going to be out but it actually shows you things it comes out Monday right? Monday, yes. Yes. It actually shows you things. It comes out Monday, right? Monday. Yes. Yes. Yes. But it actually shows you things that you don't even know about your city. Like, I didn't even know that 20. What was it? 2019 was our worst year.

Twenty seven. What was it? Twenty seven. Twenty seventeen was our worst year. You know, so I certain things like that, like, you know, so it is definitely informative, it's informational. And if you even if you're not from there, it's definitely an inspiration to have a mayor like you to come out to drop a doc about your city like this. Well, I think for me, I think it's important for me

for multiple reasons. One, I think it's important, this is something that, yes, it's about Baltimore, but really this is also about inner city America, right? I think, because you could replace me with whatever mayor across, like Mayor Wood from Birmingham, and all these other folks that are doing this great work

in their cities, Mayor Jones, my favorite mayor, and St. Louis, who are from those cities and doing this work. But I think what happens is, like you said Jess, and look, you know we love you, we're very proud of you, you gotta say that every time. But people look at their elected officials and they don't really see them as human, right? Like they see us as these robots

that have to do this stuff over and over and over, right? I always say, like people, Erica last one, I say this, people think that like my job can be described by my Instagram feed. They have no idea, right? The stuff that has to happen. And I think for me, the reason why, and this is the second documentary that I've done, I was in another one called Charm City when I was a council person.

But I did this because I wanted people to see raw and uncut what it's really like, because people have no idea what it's like to be the person that has to call someone and tell them that their loved one never coming home. Or be the person that someone's calling and saying, my baby's not gonna walk again. Or have to make that decision that you know. Skylight Frame is more than just a photo frame.

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In the aftermath of a transformative election like the one we just had, it's hard to read the news without asking yourself every five seconds, how did we get here? That's exactly what we're always trying to figure out on Fiasco, a history podcast from the co-creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which came down to a recount in Florida and ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. In many ways, it's the beginning of the story we're living through right now. So if you're trying to make sense at the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush

v. Gore, and find out how a statistical tie in the Florida vote count put the nation into an unprecedented holding pattern, during which American voters waited with bated breath to find out whether Al Gore or George W. Bush would be the next president of the United States. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. So y'all, this is Questlove, and I'm here to tell you about a new podcast I've been working on with the Story Pirates and John Glickman called Historical Records. It's a family-friendly podcast. Yeah, you heard that right.

A podcast for all ages. One you can listen to and enjoy with your kids starting on September 27th. I'm going to toss it over to the host of Historical Records, Neme, to tell you all about it. Make sure you check it out. Hey y'all, Nymonee here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know?

I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Goldman. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeart radio app, Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to historical records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jop. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect Black and Brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly.

Whether you're black, Asian, white, Latinx, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic, accountable and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher

each and every Saturday, with myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America. Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday with myself, Ramses Jah, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America. Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The forces shaping markets and the economy are often hiding behind a blur of numbers. So that's why we created The Big Take from Bloomberg Podcasts, to give you the context you need to make sense of it all. Every day in just 15 minutes, we dive into one global business story that matters. You'll hear from Bloomberg journalists like Matt Levine.

A lot of this boomstack stuff is I think embarrassing to the SEC. Amanda Moll, who writes our Business Week buying power column. Very few companies who go viral are like totally prepared for what that means. And Zoe Tillman, senior legal reporter. Courts are not supposed to decide elections. Courts are not really supposed to play a big role in choosing our elected leaders. That's for the voters to decide. Follow the Big Take podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen.

It's going to impact people in a way that people aren't going to be happy about. And what you see in this movie also is this, that Baltimore obeys the sprinkle grit that we have. And that despite all the stuff that we hear in all these TV shows, there are so many people that love our city. When you see Erika and when you see all of the folks, Dante and everyone out there doing that work, right? You see something that you won't get to see. Because most people aren't gonna be out there with violence intervention workers or Safe Streets workers

and saying like, hey, yo, you don't need to do this, right? Most people not gonna be out there blessing the space after someone gets murdered, right? And Most people are not gonna be out there blessing the space after someone gets murdered, right? Most people aren't gonna be sitting there getting those phone calls like I did or having to fight to even start this program, right? Like you say, Envy, I couldn't just do this on my own because agencies from the state, right?

And we had a different governor. We didn't have Westmoreland when this movie was being filmed. I had to convince our former governor to agree to do this. I had to convince our federal partners at the congressional level to agree to help us do this. People don't get to see that, and they also don't get to see my raw emotion, when things happen, and this is one that's captured

in the film that you don't see from my standpoint as much as you do from Erica's, but our brother Tata, Boxter, was murdered during the filming of this movie. And people will see me that day on the news talking, but they don't know, like most people don't know how close Tata and I are. They're gonna know now in this video, in this movie, when they see me and him walking around these neighborhoods together, they don't know that, like,

it took a lot for me to even go out and talk to the press that day, because I had to not be in that moment. I couldn't grieve. I couldn't do any of the stuff that you do when someone that close to you is murdered, because now I gotta go and show a strong standpoint for the city, and people will be able to see that,

and also see that there's a different approach to dealing with violence that's working, and we have to spread it across. I think the thing that I've been most proud of with the film is that two months ago, President Biden and Vice President Harris had an executive order signed at the White House.

And after that, mayors from around the country stayed to watch the film. Never in my wildest dream that I think little Brandon from Park Heights and Cold Spring would be at the White House first, right? I've been there more times than I ever thought I could imagine in the last four years. But two, that they will be watching a movie about me and about Baltimore and it be something positive. But that's what this story is about. It's about hope, determination,

and what is possible when people work together. Yeah, and I think it's really important. I was really excited to come here specifically because PBS is not a place where our people gonna go and know what the fuck is on PBS. On Monday at nine, 10 o'clock. And I was like, so the viewership, the audience of The Breakfast Club,

these are our people impacted by violence. Live in this, and even the people doing the work around violence, that's the people that watch, that follow this. And I was like, and we gotta wait till Jess come back from maternity leave. We're not gonna beat Baltimore in the building if Jess not back.

That don't even make sense. A child's three years old right now. Let's just be honest. Shut up. I'm like, my daughter is three months today. So shut up. Happy three months. Three years old.

The sleep come better in a few months, Jess. First birthday, second birthday, third birthday, baby talking now. At least shut up. So to better in a few months, Jess. First birthday, second birthday, third birthday, baby talking out. And they shout out. So to me it's just, it's important for people to feel seen in their pain. Like those of us who do the work, boots on the ground, there are people like us all over this country

because America is a place that believes in power over instead of power with. It teaches that violence is the way you get power. And so all cities like Baltimore are dealing with this same problem and they have people like us doing healing work, doing intervention work, doing mediation work, but people still look at us and say what we should be doing

and how come y'all not doing it? Because they don't really see on the, they only see us on TV or happen to maybe see us in the street. But they don't, even if my pain and grief was public around Tata, different from what Brandon did, I was all over the national news crying about it. But people still will circle back and go, well then y'all should be doing this, that and a third.

But you not really doing nothing except being whatever you, which every some people. In the comments, in the comments. Yeah, that's it. Some people that's your job. Be in the comments. Be in the comments, some people just cheerleaders, some people just haters that remind me who I wanna be.

That's fine too. But people, it's important for people to see what it is like, what you actually as a human go through. When you decide I'm gonna have an intimate relationship with violence and murder, because I'm working to heal it in the world, and people need to be seen about that work and about their trauma and about how they lost people,

and it's not just them that's going through it, and that people really love them. And people really want Baltimore to win. That's something I have learned. We've traveled around the world with this film. It premiered in London last year. I was at work early. This man! You know they're going to see this and be like, oh that's why. We're not going to talk

about how Brandon did it and make it to London. That's a whole different conversation. But the news lied about what he was doing and why he didn't make it. But that's a different conversation. But we've been to the Netherlands. We've been, like this film has literally been seen around the world in Africa. Like it's been seen everywhere. And just like you're saying that things that people in Baltimore are gonna watch and go,

yo, I didn't even know that about us. Beautiful things. People around the world got to say that about us. And which made me say to them, that means neighborhoods right here where you live that you judging the fuck out of, and you saying there's something wrong with them instead of asking what happened to them,

and how do you benefit off of the systems that's doing whatever it's doing to them. So, yes, support our work in Baltimore, absolutely, but it's probably stuff happening right here where you live that you need to be looking at differently, and you need to be supporting the work getting done right here where you live, that you need to be looking at differently and you need to be supporting the work getting done right here where you live. You better say something.

Yeah, I'm about to say it, but I want to remind people, check it out Monday on PBS. What time Monday? It's coming on 10 p.m. on Monday. But you can stream it on PBS right during and whatever, and then it'll come to some streaming services. November 25th. And it'll be streaming, and people should check come to some streaming services, November 25th. I can't wait to see the guy.

And people should check their local listings, because you know PBSD, Dependable. And you can just find it on there. The film has an Instagram, it's at the body politic film. Yes, so definitely go check that out. I just got one last question. You know, you were talking about, you said that you were meeting with Biden and Kamala Harris,

you and those, so now that Trump will be in office in January. I'ma just move back from the mic in this part. Ah! Have you had conversations with his administration as of yet, or even spoken to him yet, and how do you plan on, you know, focusing on that? Because, I mean, I don't think Trump is really

gonna care about the inner cities too much. You know, areas like Baltimore, Detroit. He hate Baltimore. He's made it known. He hate Baltimore. It's gonna it known. He hate Baltimore. It's gonna be a lot more difficult to get funding and to make sure that you got the budget you need to make sure that your city is clean and clear and good.

So how do you organize that? Yeah, we buckling down, right? And I think that this is the reality. And this was the message that I was delivering all over the country to folks, right? Because I was in that first meeting, Envy, with the president and vice president where we talked to them before ARPA hit the street

about we need to be able to use this stuff to help community violence intervention and focusing on gun violence as a public health issue. We didn't think in our wildest dreams that the president would go out and say it right then and there, but he did and then allowed us to do that work. We put $50 million of our all-per-money into community violence intervention.

Now, we don't know. None of us know what a Trump administration is going to look like for our cities, but if they are going to carry out the things that they said, we know it doesn't look good for us. So we have already been working, because we know that all-per-money, these other stuff, we know it doesn't look good for us. So we have already been working, because we know that all of these other stuff we're gonna end, to how do we now institutionalize

these things within city government, working with our state government. We're blessed in Maryland to have Governor Westmore. We're now blessed, we're gonna continue to have the best congressional delegation now with the addition of Senator Angela Alsobrook. So if folks, black people in particular, are living in a city or a state

and they feel like their rights are being infringed, come to Maryland, aka come to Death Row records. Come to Death Row records. If you don't want your governor telling you what books you can't read, and if you don't want to live, you want to live in a state where women's bodies can be protected, come to Maryland. If you want to come to a place where black people

will be respected, come to Maryland. You wanna come to a place where black people will be respected, come to Maryland. But that aside, I think that what we're gonna do is, we're gonna knuckle down. We're gonna be working with our philanthropic partners and that's the key on how we set this up. It wasn't just the city funding it, it wasn't just the feds funding it,

it wasn't just the state funding it. We had our philanthropic partners, all of us together, and now we just have to wait and see. My hope is that the new administration sees like, oh, this city has been having tremendous reductions in violence, right? Why would they come and disrupt that? We hope that that can continue.

We hope that our congressional delegation is still like they are today being able to make choices about what things they get funded in their local districts. And if not, we're just going to have to work around it and do it ourselves, right? That's what we have to do because this work has to continue, not just in Baltimore, but in Newark, in St. Louis, in Chicago, everywhere else in the country, because we know that violence is going down in our inner city. So we just have to do that work

and buckle down. I got one more thing to say. So after the election, Brandon, you said, this country does not deserve black women. It doesn't. Okay. I want you to, what do you think that we need? I want you to expand on that.

Well, we can be here all day. I think when I said that and people were like, oh, that's a great speech, I was like, well, my staff will tell you that they had no idea without what I was gonna say when I went out there. It was just the response. But I think there's a couple things, right? When we think about, and people can say what they want,

when we think about the election that we just went through, we went through election where the most qualified person to ever run for this position was the most disrespected candidate ever. Ran the best campaign that I've ever seen and I've been around a lot of campaigns, right? And yes, that includes President Obama's and we love him forever, you know I love you President.

But this, when you look at that, and you look at the focus and the things that people focused on, it's very clear that this country still has a big problem with black people and with women. And unfortunately, my Vice President, your Vice President, there's both of them. Because this wasn't for many people about policy, right?

Folks voted against their best interests, which is insane, but it happens all the time. We have to have real and honest conversations about what it means to allow people to be treated the way they should be treated and not be disrespected the way they should be disrespected. And I always say this up to people like me in my position, like I said that day, to call things as they are, right?

And people are like, oh, you're putting yourself at risk, you're making yourself a target. I'm already a target. I'm already at risk. And what are they gonna do to me that they didn't do to my ancestors? The reality is too many people that look like me fought and died for me to be even able

to sniff a position like this, for me to sit by and allow someone who was as qualified as I talked about, but also who personally did so much for me and my city to just be treated like that and not say it. I think that I owe that to her as a black man, as a son and grandson of black women, but as the husband to a Belasian wife, just like she's a Belasian American as well, I owe that to them, but I also owe that to my ancestors and for me to continue to stand

on what we know is right and call it out, and we know that, right? We can, if you just look at what they say about her every time she opens her mouth, and then other folks can just say stuff, you can be like, really? Really? I mean, look, y'all, Linda McMahon's about

to lead the Department of Education, right? And we're talking about she wasn't qualified for the job. That's crazy. That's crazy. That's right. Come on, yo. Like we know what it is and folks have to call it out and stop being scared to do so.

Because that's how these folks get so comfortable and continuing these things because people are like, oh, yo, they're gonna take away my money. They're gonna, yeah, money is fine, your position is fine, that is fine, but like, what principles do you have? What kind of world do you wanna live in where you can literally see that happen to this woman? And also, look, let's be honest,

the data doesn't align, right? We have to remember, and this is in particular, I take this personally too, because I also came into office during the middle of the pandemic, right? When they came into office, no one knew what the next week was gonna look like, let alone the next four years.

And when you think about it, in particular to black folks and folks that listen and watch the Breakfast Club, you've never seen more investment in the HBCUs. You've never seen more small black business created. You've never seen more investment in the HBCUs. You've never seen more small black business created. You've never seen a lower level of black unemployment in this country. What else do you want?

Like this stuff takes time. She's not gonna just be there in four years during the height of a pandemic and then like, oh, all these things that have existed in this country since they brought the first one of us over here, it's gonna go away. We have to stop holding ourselves to this extreme high regard and taking Joe whatever the rag man

from other folks. That's right. I love that. Definitely check out the documentary this Monday, 10 p.m., check your local listing on PBS, and we appreciate you for joining us. Anytime. I wanted to ask you, who was the guy next to you,

he was a wise man in my opinion, who said, it takes a village to raise a child. Oh, that's Uncle T. But what if the village is retarded? Is retarded, that's Uncle T. Shout out to Uncle T. Shout out to Uncle T.

Who got me in trouble, my man. Remember, you invited him out. I don't know what you thought he was gonna say. If you put him on a list of top. I'm like, you gave Uncle T the mic. What do you think is my bad? Nah, nah, okay, when he said that, Brandon knew he fucked him. He tried to take it. Like he said that, I'm like, you gave Uncle T the mic? What do you think is about that? When he said that, Brandon knew he fucked up. He tried to.

He said, I do like this. Dude. Envy, this was a whole press conference, yo. And the niggas standing next to the man said, it takes the village to raise a child. But what if the village is retarded? Brandon, even with the mask on. I knew what he meant.

Jess know what he meant. Erica knew what he meant. That's not the point. Even with the mask on, you can see Brandon like, nigga, no. I'm like he meant. Just know what he meant. Erica knew what he meant. That's not the point. Even with the mask on, you can see Brad's like, I am mad. I'm like, damn, no. Yes, yes. So we had another event a couple weeks ago, and Uncle T's about to ask a question.

I said, Uncle T, before you asked his question, he did, man. He had talking points. I said, before you asked his question, the last time you asked me that question, you got me in a lot of trouble. Everybody just bust out laughing. That's my man. I love Uncle T.

He does a lot of work, saves a lot of young people in East Baltimore. We love him very much. You can tell Uncle T, he's 40 plus. You know, them old black people, they're going to say what they want. Me what they say, not give a fuck. And he got a right to, because he whips the young people over each every single day helping them spend their lives. But I'll tell you something about Uncle T though.

This is how you know. And you'll remember this. Remember this summer we had this incident where this young lady was shot and killed inside her house, right? Uncle T called me before the police commissioner called me. And him and the community, when I got there, they were like, Brandon, this who it is. So I delivered the message to our folks. And then if you watch the interview,

and everyone was online like, yo, Brandon's sending the message, and others don't know what he's saying. I literally go out there and say, the entire city is looking for you. Your best bet is to turn yourself in. He knew, they knew what I was saying but that's the kind of person and that's really what's happening with these communities because people ain't just gonna let somebody go in a house

and kill a little baby and you think you just gonna like go off about your business like nah yo they like people looking for you and they were able to sound like look y'all chill. We'll find are looking for you. And they were able to sound like, look, y'all, chill. We'll find him. Tell us who it, they told us, and we was able to get him and put him where he belonged. But I think that shows you the character of people who know like, no, we gotta set a code that like,

no, whatever you got going on ain't got nothing to do with this little baby. And that's the kind of thing that we have to have and stop allowing. Like the thing that pisses me off the most is if I go on the internet and see somebody that shot somebody, mother or daughter or somebody, and they be like, free, what?

Are you crazy? Like yo, he killed somebody's child, right? Like, ain't had nothing to do with their little silly petty beef, cause I think, Envy, one of the things, and Jess, that people don't realize is that this ain't the 90s. People dying over regular beef. They ain't dying over whole amounts of money like, yeah, yo, disrespecting me.

Or every other day, like, yeah, I did say that one time. Dumb shit on TV. Thanks, Jess, for reminding me. Yo sent my girl a message on Instagram, like did she respond? Yeah, didn't it need your girl, bruh? Like you gotta do it. Right, right.

Or she bought for your girl. That's it, like that's just how it go. And we gotta get, our folk gotta understand that we gotta be better with each other in understanding how to resolve conflict because we gonna have conflict. That's the human way, bro. I think the biggest thing is, I know we gotta go,

but I think the biggest thing is social media, and I'm gonna tell you why, right? Because before, if that was a situation, you send my girl a note, it's just between me, you, and my girl. Embarrassment is not there. I can just walk away. Now I'm embarrassed because now everybody knows about it.

I feel like I need my, quote, unquote, I need my link back. It's my ego. You know, same thing as if we get into a fist fight, right? You beat me up. Spot on. And you know, it's a couple of people that see it. I go home, it's gone. The people that are next block don't know.

Now they filming this video. And I know I can't beat you, so next time I gotta bring the blitz. Correct. That's what happens. So now it's all in the comments. You saw if you did, you liked, you did this. So now I gotta prove myself.

You like it. It tames you from New York, I understand. That's right, you got new bal if you did, you liked it, you did this, but now I gotta prove myself. You like a team, you from New York, I understand. That's right, you got new balancers on, you're in sweatpants, you know. And it really. And it really. And it really, I just wanna say, because you brought up conflict in general, right,

it really is a trap to make us think that we, there's no other choices. The thing I have to do now, because people don't understand. Right, they don't understand. The brain science of it is, it's just a moment in your brain telling your body, run, fight, freeze. You chose fight, but if you take that pause and calm down,

it's a lot of other options to you. But you are being socialized to think these are the only options because your humanity ain't worth shit. So these, you gotta act like an animal because you are an animal and this is all you can do when really you got all of these other options and we don't get taught conflict management skills.

Like conflict management doesn't get addressed like the coronavirus. I think also because we're just learning as it's going on. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, because, and anybody will be a liar if they say it doesn't affect them. The first time you read a negative comment about yourself, it could have been 100 positive comments.

That one negative comment stuck with you. Or those two negative comments stuck with you and it's hard to be like, I'm gonna let it go. If it takes a time to learn and be like, ah, that don't bother me. Let's just have that conversation in the car. I told her, I was like, I just don't look at that. And there are, all over this country,

organizations that teach conflict management skills. We do that at the Community Mediation Center And that's why there needs to be. And there are all over this country organizations that teach conflict management skills. We do that at the Community Mediation Center in Baltimore that teach mediation. So there's a safe space to take, all right, me and you, say that shit to my face in a confidential space so we can really work it out, right? And there are organizations doing that work all over,

but they have to be uplifted as much as to keep that same energy shit is to recognize that it is intentionally trying to make our demise just a real thing. And the last thing I'll say, I say this to the kids all the time too, right? And we have to understand like who's programming. That's right.

I got to ask this by a kid in a school last year, he's like, Mr. Man, every time I go on Instagram or TikTok, it's trying to show me fight videos. I don't watch fight videos. I said, yeah, but people in your class, other people do, and they think that people like you. Of course. Algorithms are a real thing. Perfect example, this is true story.

A young lady that works for me, wanted to set up a TikTok account. I was like, I'm not downloading TikTok. You can do what you want. But she was like, well, we want the algorithm to be right. So you sit here while I pick the things. She's like, what are you interested in? I'm like, sports, babies, politics,

weather, nature, right? Cities. Soon as she goes in there, because it puts in my age, right? And all my information and where I live, all they wanted to show me was ass videos. Nothing, nothing. I'm a black man.

I'm a black man. Just butt videos. That's it. She's looking at it like what? And that's the, we have to understand that and really figure out ways to unplug ourselves from that. But thank you all for having me. Thank you for joining us.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Brandon, Scott, Erica, make sure you check out the documentary this Monday, 10 o'clock on PBS. November 25th. Thank you guys so much. Thank you.

Thank you. It's The Breakfast Club, good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club. It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here? Fiasco is a history podcast

for the co-creators of Slow Burn. In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examine an unmistakable turning point in American politics, the 2000 election, which resulted in a high-stakes stalemate ended with one of the most controversial rulings in Supreme Court history. So if you're trying to make sense of the present moment,

check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey everyone, I'm Madison Packer, a pro hockey veteran going on my 10th season in New York. And I'm Anya Packer, a former pro hockey player and now a full Madison Packer stan. Anya and I met through hockey,

and now we're married and moms to two awesome toddlerslers ages two and four. And we're excited about our new podcast, Moms Who Puck, which talks about everything from pro hockey to professional women's athletes to raising children and all the messiness in between. So listen to Moms Who Puck on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, this is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Leighton and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world.

We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th.

Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Share that past with your child. These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our eleventh season of Family Secrets. Listen to Season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.