The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Naturi Naughton-Lewis & Maurice Mitchell Talk 'Working Families & Power Party,' Omari, 50 Cent + More

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Naturi Naughton-Lewis & Maurice Mitchell To Discuss 'Working Families & Power Party,' Omari, And 50 Cent. Listen For More!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club. Jess is on maternity leave, so Lauren LaRosa is filling in. And we got some special guests in the building. We have Notori Norton and Maurice Mitchell. Welcome. How y'all feeling? Welcome, welcome. Notori Norton Lewis. Don't forget my last name. They didn't put Lewis. I'm sorry, Miss Lewis. Oh, yeah, they didn't put my married name. They didn't put Lewis on, no, no. Put some respect on that name.

Put some respect on my married name. Put some respect on her damn name, well, Terry Norton Lewis. How y'all feeling this morning? How's the energy? Everything good? Everything's good. Can't complain.

Blessed, blessed. So happy to be here. I know we're less than a week until Election Day or something, man. A couple days. Yeah. It's crazy. The Working Families Party.

Maurice, you're the national director. I remember Jill Stein brought y'all up when she was here on The Breakfast Club. Was that an accurate representation? Look, I get excited when people have our names in their mouths, right? Because generally that means we're doing that work. We're putting in work. And the Working Families Party, for those of you that may not know what we do, we're what happens where everyday people come together, people who aren't picked from the

political establishment. We come together and we demand a seat at the agenda setting table, right? Because we're talking about elections, but it's really about setting agendas and building agendas. And so when people are looking, they say like, well, you know, I'm fed up with this party or that party. We want something else. We're that something else. And I like to say that we're a non-delusional grassroots third party. And so what that means is, you know, we cook what we have in the kitchen. Right. So I grew up working class. Right. And, you know, I can't always have money to buy a gourmet meal, but I'll look what we have in the kitchen.

I'll make a gourmet meal, but I'll look what we have in the kitchen. I'll make a gourmet meal. Right. And so we run people as independent WFP people sometimes when we can, if there's a path to win. Like, for example, how many of you know who Tish James is? Absolutely. Okay. What you may not know is that the attorney general. That's right. She started as a independent working families candidate in 2003 and worked her way up to becoming attorney general. She was a lawyer. She was a public defender and a consumer protection lawyer. And the political establishment wanted nothing to do with her. The white establishment, the black establishment, the Democratic Party establishment. And we joined forces with her. And historically,

we defeated the Republicans and Democrats and got her elected as a city council person. Right. Not too far from here in Brooklyn. She worked her way all the way up to become attorney general, which is historic. But what did she do when she had that authority? She used it in order to hold the powerful accountable. Right. So everybody talks about the 34 felonies, the 34 felonies holding this man who always had a silver spoon in his mouth, who used his power to make sure that black folks couldn't rent in his homes. When he became president, often used his powers to enrich him and his friends. He never faced accountability. He finally faced accountability when an independent black woman gave him that work, brought to you in part by the Working Families Party, right? And so I remember,

I'm from New York, I remember in New York when we had a Republican governor, a Republican mayor, Republicans of the state senate, it was through the Working Families Party. People talk about down-ballot races, right? Actually focusing on down-ballot races so that in city council and in state legislatures, we moved the establishment closer to the people so we could deliver on a $15 minimum wage. Now, that's the floor. You hear a lot of Democrats talking about a $15 minimum wage. They weren't talking about that until we created the conditions to make that the floor. So we're the folks who are always going to focus on the issues of everyday working people.

And look, there's a lot of people talking about third party approaches. I'll just end with this. There is an approach that believes that every four years you could run at the top of the ticket, a third party candidate for president. And then somehow that will create the conditions in order for people to be able to get a little bit more freedom. However, what we've seen is like, look, 1992, what was that? That was when a billionaire, Ross Perot, put all of his money down, right? So he had all of the money in the world and he couldn't break 20%. He got 18.9%. That told us as the Working Families Party that the top-down third-party approach isn't viable for working people. But the bottom-up approach, that's viable. So we started off in New York. We're now in 20 places. We're in 20 states. And we're putting in that work.

We endorse close to a thousand down ballot candidates. Right. So president and I know we're going to talk about a lot of this. We're going to talk about the pushback. Look, people are talking about the president. That is really important. But the president doesn't make the laws. Congress makes the laws. City council makes the laws. State legislature makes the laws. City Council makes the laws. State Legislature makes the laws. And so working families, what we do often is when you have, especially Democrats who are corporate Democrats, who have either they've forgotten their way or never had their way and they're more accountable to lobbyists and corporations. Well, we're the force that kicks them out and replaces them with working families candidates through primaries.

Right. And we've we've delivered in terms of like the concrete things that actually matter. So in Philadelphia, right, we, I mean, look, I'm sorry, we have so many receipts. We have CVS long receipts, right? But it's important that people know this. So in Philadelphia, this is a city where Democrats and Republicans were on city council. And we kicked off the two Republicans and replaced them with Working Families Party candidates, Kendra Brooks and Nicholas O'Rourke. Why is that important? Kendra is from Nicetown. You could still go to Nicetown. She's right there. She's on city council because of this movement that we built.

And when she got on city city council, it was historic. She was the first non-Democrat or Republican to get on city council. Right. And we were actually with Kendra a few days ago, putting in work in North Philly and West Philly. Right. And the important thing about Kendra Brooks and why governance is so important is that when she was there, we didn't just do a victory party because she got there. She organized all the folks in city council so that during COVID in 2020, when people were sheltering in place and they couldn't draw an income, and many people were concerned

about getting kicked out on the streets because their landlords wanted rent, she created a eviction diversion program in Philly that was temporary. Fast forward to today, we've made it permanent. And right now there's an affordability crisis. A lot of working people, a lot of people who are, are struggling to figure out how they stay at home. In Philadelphia, there's a 41 percent decrease in evictions because of that policy brought to you by Kendra Brooks and the Working Families Party.

So the Working Families Party is about putting results down for everyday working people. What got you involved with the Working Families Party, Victoria? Well, amen to everything Maurice said. What got me involved is really just my passion for politics. I went to Seton Hall for political science and, you know, they reached out to me and my husband too and was like, look, how can we get involved? And really it was just a natural, I think, organic relationship. I am really, you know, big in Jersey, big in my community. And then, you know, doing things for the pushback was how we kind of first initially connected. And the pushback just made me honestly more aware of Project 2025 and how I needed to use my voice.

So we went to Philly. We've been canvassing, knocking on doors, going to people, making sure that early voting is happening. So really just getting involved was a natural, organic relationship. And I'm glad that Working Families is using the culture, you know, because of, I guess, you know, influence that we have. I wanted to get involved and it's been making, I think, making a difference. But y'all pushing for the VP, right right y'all don't have your own candidate oh so it's not so yeah i want to be i want to be clear we're independent third party and look we tell the people the truth so if we can't find a path right so if we can't find a path to victory right because one of the ways to just to define a party is like parties organize winning and one way to evaluate a party is to ask,

what is your path to victory and what is your strategy? Right. Those are the questions you should be asking. If we don't see a path to victory, we don't waste our people's time, money and energy. We could not see a way for us to run a candidate from the WFP at the top of the ticket. Right. So what we did, it is a binary choice. Anybody that's telling you that on Tuesday, anybody but Donald Trump or Kamala Harris are going to win that election are either lying to you

or they don't know the basics of civics in this country, right? So when we saw this binary... Oh, you just pissed off the Green Party. Jill Stein, that's the first person I thought of when you said that. No, I mean, look, my job as an organizer is to tell the truth, right? And this isn't directed at anybody in particular. This is just the truth, right? Between now and Election Day, it will be, it is a binary choice.

Either the VP or Donald Trump will get elected. And the thing that I want to say and how it comes back to the pushback, because the pushback is a project of our sister organization, Working Families Power. It's a public education pun intended. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pun intended. Right. And it's designed because, look, I want to I want to go back to the RNC. How many people remember the RNC and remember seeing Sister Amber Rose on stage. Of course. The reason why that concerned me is that I think we could all agree that she was

able to establish herself. She was able to feed her family. She was able to become a celebrity through our culture. Could we all agree that that's true? Absolutely. I'm a student of history. I know that black culture has always been a force to tell the truth, to speak truth to power, has always played that role.

And I also know that when folks in our culture have had the ability and had the privilege to rise to the highest levels and been able to establish themselves and have celebrity and have a little money in their pocket, that they always established, they kept that relationship between them and the streets, everyday working class, black and brown people. And so even though you could maybe vote for a candidate that will give you a tax cut and benefit you because you're in a certain tax bracket, you remember the people that brought you there. You remember your aunties and uncles and cousins. And so there's a- And we can't leave those people behind.

Yes. The average American, working American, the real people. And that's also, again, what makes me so passionate about the work of working families and Maurice and his team. You know, it just makes sense to reach back. Just like you said, you know, I may have made it to a certain point, but I still look at people from East Orange or from certain inner cities, Newark, New Jersey,

and make sure that they know we care and we see you. And that's hopefully what will inspire people to vote for whoever you feel like is going to bring the change that is needed. But we all, you know, I know how I feel. And I just, as a woman, as a black woman, you know, I'm very excited to see, you know, America do what they got to do.

Exactly. And what was it about Amber Rose? What I was going to say is like, Notori is on code. Right. And our artists have never violated code the way that some artists are violating code right now. You think she violated code? But anybody who came up through our culture benefits from our culture. That is now aligned with the extremist billionaire agenda of people who grew up in racist, white, authoritarian, fascist South Africa, and Elon Musk, as an undocumented immigrant, was able to basically invest in companies and make all of this wealth in order to advance his agenda.

When you're rocking with them and you're not rocking with an agenda that will put more money in everyday working people's pockets, to me, that's a violation of code. So absolutely, look, if the shoe fits, wear it. We've seen it before in history. I think of Sammy Davis Jr., Richard Nixon at the Republican National Convention. And we need to call it out, and we need to reestablish code. And part of that is reestablishing a connection.

So it's not simply about an event or anything else. So with the pushback, the artists are using their platforms, people like Notori, and we've had other artists in this conversation. Great people. You know, folks like Killer Mike and Taraji P. Henson and Tiana Taylor and Maino and Fabulous. And they've all jumped into this initiative. It's like the Avengers to dispel misinformation and disinformation. Right. Because I have no problem how you vote as long as you're voting from the standpoint of the facts and the truth. And you're informed. Right.

And there's so much misinformation and disinformation and flat out lies going out. We felt we needed to engage this project, the pushback. But back to your question, I feel like there's three categories of people who are currently violating code. And you have 50 Cent on recently, right? And I remember he said that they... You feel like 50 violated code? No, I want to say this.

No, I want to bring it up because... No, listen. Because, look, he spilled the tea. They wanted to offer him the bag, $3 million. To his credit, he spilled the tea. They wanted to offer him the bag, $3 million. To his credit, he denied the bag. He denied the bag, right? Twice.

He's smart. And so there's three categories. People who have accepted the bag, which means they don't believe any of this. They're willing to swallow their pride and accept a white supremacist agenda for the bag. Then there's people who actually believe in the agenda, and they're taking the back. And I think the third category, to me, is the saddest life. You're not even getting the back, and you're so thirsty for their approval

that you're willing to use your platform, use your voice in order to advance the billionaire extremist agenda, the Project 2025 agenda, because elections are not about, oh, you know, the the orange crazy man and what he says and the black lady. Right. Elections are about the future. Elections are about agendas, which is why we're so focused on the public education around Project 2025, because on one side is the Project 2025 agenda. And then there's been people who said like, well, I don't believe Donald Trump read Project 2025. Exactly. That's the point

of Project 2025. Can I ask you one question though? So what about those artists and those athletes that came from the same place of our culture, right? Made a lot of money from our culture in a different tax bracket, but say nothing. How do you look at those individuals?

And there's a zillion one of them that say absolutely positively nothing. Is that the same thing as what you figure Amber Rose is doing? I believe that neutrality in times of high contradictions and neutralities in times when we need to speak the truth supports the status quo. But I put folks who are not speaking in a different category. I'm an organizer and I can relate to that. So there's so much misinformation and disinformation people actually don't know. So how are you going to speak if you don't know?

It's my job. This is why I'm so happy to be here. It's my job as an organizer to be able to shame, you know, speak the truth, as to shame you know speak the truth as my mom says speak the truth and shame the devil right um so that those artists and also they do they put a lot of work in in in order to intimidate people with platforms to say shut up and dance shut up and sing just or just dribble shut up and dribble right uh matt barnes is a part of the conversation so so what what i say is if you are somebody with the platform and you're not speaking because you don't know, it's your job to seek out organizations, seek out trusted messengers, seek out organizations like Working Families Party. It's our job to reach out to you so that you could have the information.

Now, look, there are people who are part of our culture who are black conservatives. Those are that's a different category. Right. There's always been conservatives in our culture who are part of our culture and they look at things a little bit different. But a lot of those folks, a lot of those folks are are are looking with their eyes and looking at what they're saying and doing. And even though they have conservative leanings are saying, oh, well, what happened in Madison Square Garden, that was a hate rally, right? So simply because you might have a leaning in one direction or a different direction doesn't mean you can't see with your eyes and listen with your ears what these people are saying. I'm just saying when they say who they are, believe them.

And look, if it was months ago, I would feel a little bit different. when they say who they are, believe them. And look, if it was months ago, I would feel a little bit different if it was months ago. But we're within a week until this election. And we're taping this from New York. We're not too far away from what can only be described as a hate rally that took place at Madison Square Garden. This isn't even a hard choice in terms of the contrast, right? Look, they came for everybody. They came for Latinos in general. Puerto Ricans.

They came for, they're specifying their hate now. It's like Latinos in general, let's focus on the Puerto Ricans. Oh, you knew we hate Palestinians, but did you know we hate Palestinian toddlers? Right? This is who they are. They're saying what they will do. They printed their manual, which is why I'm so happy that they put it online so you can download Project 2025. Now it's up to us to get information.

I'm asking everybody. Everybody vote. Vote. But your job doesn't just end there. Because voting is a team sport. So go with other people. If you're able to vote early, vote early. If you can mail in your ballot, mail in your ballot. Or on November 5th, go and vote and bring people along. And then I'll also say we have to reach as many people as possible.

So, you know, props to Tori because she was on these streets, right, at early voting locations in Philly. And the lines were crazy in Philly. People want to be engaged. People want to vote early because they know that there's going to be some games that will be played. They're going to try to steal the election. Yeah. So we know that there's a lot of that happening. So we have to kind of be proactive and get to those polls early and I was happy being in Philly just the other day and seeing so many people you know trying to figure out first off why is Tasha there and I was like I'm here because it's important to make sure your vote counts and by them waking up and paying attention it makes them know that they matter and that their voice matters.

And one thing that Maurice was saying made me think about even a quote, I think Dr. King said, you know, a threat to injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. So when you spoke about people who are neutral, you know, even though everyone doesn't have to, you know, have the same point of view, but if you are, you know, complacent to of view but if you are you know complacent to injustice how are you promoting justice so that quietness or that neutrality might you know I guess fuel the fire for those who don't want to see justice who don't want equality who don't want women to have rights over their bodies, who don't want, you know, working people to be able to make a living wage. People who don't want that, you're almost, your neutrality is almost saying it's okay.

What about work-wise, though? Because I know a lot of celebrities, even if they're going to go vote, they stay quiet because they don't want to mess up roles or have certain audiences not come out and see them or whatever. Have you seen things pulled back from you because you're not quiet and you're very upfront and it's a very strong message that you guys are pushing. Work-wise, has anything changed or you lost opportunities because of that? Not,

no, not, not really, not, not in this time in my life. I haven't experienced that. If anything, I think people look at me or even the show that I was a part of and the work

that I've done I've always been a risk taker to be honest I mean playing little Kim hello but I think from the beginning of my career even post 30w you know little Kim power I don't think I'm afraid of what people might say or think I'm more think, interested in the legacy that I leave behind. I'm more interested in how people will then be inspired by me taking a stand. I'm more interested in how, when I'm gone, what did I leave behind? So I think, you know, obviously Hollywood

and there's always politics and we do have to play the game. We all know that. But I think that people may even look to me to be that voice, that they may not have that microphone. So as I do, I think, you know, that's what I'm more empowered by. So fortunately, I'm able to work. Fortunately, you know, I can feed my family.

But at the same time, I get to be who I truly am. Did you want to be in politics? Is that why you made the political science? I did. I did. I thought about actually, you know to be in politics? Is that why you did? I did. I did. I thought about actually, you know, after being in the music business, I was kind of done with that for a while. And I wanted to be a lawyer. And then I thought about, you know, as a political science

major at Seton Hall University, I thought about pursuing a career in politics or lawmaking. I really wish that I could change policy. As a young person, I remember thinking post-3LW, I was 18 years old, freshly out of the group, went to school, and I was like, if only there were policies to protect young artists. That's really what it was about for me. And political science was an avenue that I knew

if I continued, and I actually was offered an internship at Capitol Hill I actually used to sing for all the politicians in Jersey the mayor so you know Sharp James and Newark and everyone really knew me so for me politicians and politics was somewhat you know had a synergy in my life. What's the one thing that you would change you said you know do this to change things for artists What's the one thing that you would change? You said, you know, do this to change things for artists. What's the one thing that you would change for those artists that you just was like, it's just not right? I think now some of that is changing. Back then, I wanted artists to have more autonomy, more power, more ownership. I think now one thing I would change more so as an actress or in Hollywood is ability to create our own projects without

relying on other people's money. If we could get funding or if there was like an organization that specifically focused, I mean, there are, but specifically gave funding and opportunities to black people and black filmmakers, and there are a handful, but if we had a larger central hub, I would change this idea of needing approval but also not being able to create, not having ownership. So if we could make our work, like an artist who sings, I was a recording artist and now I'm an actress, but if we could have more ownership and actual control over the narrative

because the stories are often told from another point of view and you just are plugged into it for the poster. But if we actually were behind the scenes and doing more in that category, I think that would make us way more powerful. That's more important now than ever before, especially with what you see they're doing in schools

where they don't even want to teach you real history. So who's going to tell our stories if we don't? Well, that's actually part of what me and Maurice were just talking about. Project 2025 is taking away the woke agenda. And they're afraid of teaching that, which is crazy to me because

I think about my daughter. She's seven years old. She's in second grade. And some of these things will affect her trajectory as a student in this you know in this life so i'm like wait a minute no now it's on me as a parent but it also should be a sense of accountability in our schools and our systems to make sure that they can't eliminate true american history it's not just black history this is american history we built this country we did a lot of the work on the backs of

slaves and slavery. So let's not eradicate that and make it as if it didn't happen. That was one of the things we just said. That's right. And the thing about the way that that connects to Project 2025, especially with artists, and this is a big manual. It's more than 900 pages. So they're coming for everybody. They're coming for artists. They have a very creepy agenda. So you don't get into page five before they're talking about outlawing pornography and putting pornographers in jail and prison. But I want to explain what that would actually do if you're an artist. Right. So the line between art and pornography, that is subjective. Right. So what they want in terms of having artists have control and more power, they want to eliminate that. So from people who currently are making money on OnlyFans to people who are content creators to when you talk about edgy art, we're often talking about our art as black and brown folks, hip hop. That's often we're pushing the boundaries. Right. And so they'll be in a position to say, hey, that video we listen to. They're already listening to our lyrics and we're getting caught up because our lyrics.

They'll have more authority to do that and not just prevent it from happening. And but also putting people behind bars. They say they want to put educators and librarians behind bars. Right. Off of this, trying to eliminate the woke agenda. And for us in here, we know when they say woke, it's now become code for the N-word. It's a way for them to be able to say what they want to say in a different way.

So when they say they want to eliminate woke, they want to eliminate our history. And the reason why they want to eliminate black history is because it's American history. What happens when white children, black children, Latino children learn actual American history and learn about the oppression of our history? They want to fight oppression as adults. And they don't want you to fight oppression because that means you're fighting the status quo. These are people with an awful lot of power and money, and they're not comfortable with the power and money they want.

They want more. And so it's about them having more power and money and you having less power and money. That's basically what the agenda is. And if you're an artist, you should be concerned. If you're a parent, you should be concerned. If you're a black man, you should be concerned. They come for black men. Because this is the agenda about making national stop and frisk.

They want that to be national. So there's no city or state you could avoid the stop and frisk agenda. How many of you know what qualified immunity is? Absolutely. So that's the law that emboldens police officers so they know that if they shoot or kill us, that they have protection, so they won't face any accountability. And it's already hard

to get them indicted or if something happens, you know, so imagine with qualified immunity how that will affect so many. That's why the George Floyd Policing Act didn't pass. Exactly. And there's one candidate, by the way, who actually was a part of George Floyd Policing Act. And to me,

listen, I came through the movement for was a part of George Floyd Policing Act. And to me, listen, I came through the movement for black lives. So George Floyd is the police policing act. To me, that is the floor. Right. The movement for black lives talks about the breathe act. To me, that's the ceiling. Right. So there's there's one candidate that's talking about how do we get that passed? There's another candidate that's talking about day one. I want to execute, quote unquote, drug dealers. Well, who are the drug dealers? Like if we have an honest conversation in our society, when our society thinks about

drug dealers, who comes to mind? The pharmaceutical company. 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.

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It's the one time I'm actually on trend. So grab your pumpkin spice, dust off that Ouija board, just don't call me unless it's urgent, and tune in for new episodes every week. Remember, the veils are thin, the stories are spooky, and your favorite ghost host is back and badder than ever. Listen to Haunting on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. keep going. That's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. You know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout?

Well, that's when the real magic happens. So if you love hearing real, inspiring stories from the people you know, follow, and admire, join me every week for Post Run High. It's where we take the conversation beyond the run and get into the heart of it all. It's lighthearted, pretty crazy, and very fun. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. They're not talking about what they think about brown people. That's the real. Are they talking about the Sackler family, who are the greatest

drug dealers in the history of this country? Right? Or are they talking about somebody else? Are they talking about black and brown people? Right? So when they say these things we go to prison we must believe them uh-huh um do you think that uh enough is well first of all y'all on the ground y'all been on the ground yep what do you think's gonna happen to this so i don't make predictions right but what i can you excited I'm excited. I'm excited. I feel inspired, excited, and hopeful.

That's what I feel. I'm feeling it. Yeah, I can't. Listen, when I'm, so like we do things online, but we're also outside, right? And so when I leave here, I'm going to be in Phoenix. I'm going to be in Milwaukee. I'll be back in Philly. And we're with the people.

And so I get nothing but excitement and joy from being with the people. And so I get nothing but excitement and joy from being with the people, because if you're scrolling online and you're getting caught up in that misinformation and disinformation, part of that is to make you feel cynical. Yes. I like to say that cynicism is a political project of the far right and the status quo, because you'll just be like, oh, man, we can't do nothing. You know, it doesn't matter anyway. I might as well just not vote. Exactly. But when you're actually outside and you knock on some doors, by the way, I want to encourage people, right? Don't just vote.

There's still an opportunity. And if I may, I'd like to shout out some opportunities for folks to be able to knock on doors. So if you're listening to this, text the word power, pun intended, text the word power to 30403. If you text the word power to 30403, wherever you are, you could volunteer to knock on doors, to have conversations with your neighbors, to do phone banks, to even text. Why? Because in the final days, it's not about what the politicians say. It's not about, you know, I'm sure you're getting a lot of TV ads and digital ads and all that stuff. It's about what everyday people say to their neighbors. And you're an everyday person.

They want you to believe the lie that you have no power. When you're on these streets and you're seeing these long lines. Yeah. And look, remember we saw that elder. Yeah. Remember that elder? Right. And she had a cane.

And she was on the line and she said that she had been waiting, I think, like, I mean, months. She said they were supposed to send her ballot. You know, Philly, she kept applying and she sent it in. She called. It was a lot of things that just weren't coming and it didn't come in the mail. So she said, I knew I had to come on down here and get here for early voting. And, you know, she was an elderly woman. And so we made arrangement, you know, to try to get her in where she didn't have to wait on that

line but I was thinking to myself my gosh imagine some people don't have the ability to access the patience my mom was a strange she went to they changed the voting locations a lot of people in our neighborhood they don't have like they can't just get in a car and drive somewhere they on public transportation yeah so she was saying that like they were trying to figure out like just our neighbors how to like everybody get together and go to this new location but they never sent out the new location in the mail so a lot of people don't even know you're just going last minute go vote and you can keep saying they're going to send it and that's exactly what it didn't come but so you guys use power as

the push button how many times when you out with the people they're like oh my god tasha oh my god does that help you you're not god Tasha you're a felon we have figured out a way to in New York former inmates can vote but um it's so funny because yes we were out just the other day and people, I think, do feel like a little confused, shocked, excited. Seeing you was just like, when you walked in, I was like, oh, look at Tasha. Like, it's just hard to not disconnect you from the character. And I'm always like, well, my name is Naturi.

And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But Tasha. But Naturi Tasha. I'm going to just put that in my middle name from now on. But the beauty of that is that when you're a part of something, it's just like The Wire. You're in our house. And you look back at shows or even The Sopranos or certain things when power has, you know, I've been in the show for 10 years and I'm still alive. I think I'm out of witness protection now, actually.

We're going to get there. I got some questions. I will say is that it does give a platform and also people to, you know, just kind of wake up their senses a little bit and say, OK, if this matters in this part of the culture, then it should matter to me. Right. And it brings the cynicism. Right. Because there's so many messages. You don't matter. Nobody cares. is actually in your neighborhood impressing why you why you matter enough to vote why your vote matters in Philly or in in Wisconsin in in Milwaukee or any of these other places it kind of breaks the lie of cynicism so you get have a real conversation about the issues and also when I say and I also want to make sure people know me too. You know, when you are a character, you want them to know in your real life, this matters.

So I'm Naturi. I always, you know, of course we play, it's Tasha, but I'm Naturi. That's right. And Naturi cares. And Naturi was a straight A student. And Naturi went to school for political science. And Naturi has a family.

I'm a mother. And I also, you know, had a pregnancy where I struggled with the thoughts of having an abortion, in all honesty. And I know what so many women are dealing with and not wanting to feel judged. And I think that's a real thing. I guess because I'm old and I was born in 1978. Tasha's not bigger than the Tory to me.

Thank you. That's right. But we came from a different level. It depends on who you're talking to. But you've than the Tory to me. Thank you. That's right. But we came from a different level. It depends on who you're talking to. But you've seen the Tory so long. But that's the Tory. I feel like you've seen me since I was a teenager. Then you have power.

Yeah, because y'all are grown, grown. You know, for these youngins, they late. But I appreciate you saying that because that's also why I do the work that I do. Because it's not just about one avenue. Power is one thing. But I'm going to do more things. I do because it's not just about one avenue of power is one thing but I'm gonna do more things I'm directing I'm producing you know I'm growing as an artist but as really I think as a person and I think my womanhood my motherhood my wife hood has allowed me to tap into these different areas in a way that is natural because I don't want other women other mothers and

other wives to feel that their voices aren't heard. So I'm stepping in as Naturi first. I have two questions for you. Okay. You said, and you don't have to talk about this if you're not comfortable, but you just said that you struggled with the thoughts of abortion. Yes. Why? Well, no, I just, I wasn't sure that I wanted to have my first child. I never really talked about this, but essentially, I think that when I was shooting Power, I became pregnant. It was an unexpected pregnancy. And I'm super blessed. My daughter, Zuri, is amazing.

And I'm so glad she's here. But in all honesty, I wrote and directed my first short film. It's called 3-3-3. And it's about somewhat an experience that I had and also the mental anguish of making that choice. And I wanted to use film as a way to give women and people, and there's men, you know, I have Burgundy Baker, who stars in it from The Chi,

John Clarence Stewart, Vanessa Bell Calloway. And this film, 333, just gives us a chance to look at the issue of abortion in not a politicized way, but in a human way. And deal with, so my experience just made me realize, like, even me, even though I was on a hit

show, this is season four, and power was at its height, I didn't know if I could be a good mother. And I wasn't sure if I would be enough. I didn't know if I was going to good mother. And I wasn't sure if I would be enough. I didn't know if I was going to make enough money. I didn't know if the show was going to get canceled. Like, there were so many things. I didn't know if I was going to get married.

You know, and I didn't. I became a single mom very quickly. So, you know, until I met my husband when my daughter was almost two, I wasn't really sure. So I'll just say that that's what I channeled those emotions. And that's also why women's rights and reproductive rights is so important to me at this time. So, yeah. 333, the ascended masters are right by your side, assisting you with whatever it is that you're focusing on.

Yeah, 333. And it's also just this interesting, yeah, there's so much power in those numbers. And you'll see like when you see my film which will be out next year I'm in festivals but essentially it is completion and also what you focus on it will come so whatever your choice is don't feel haunted by that and just be able to go forth and focus on the future and that's what my film is about and then my second question was you talked about earlier people wanting people to know you outside of power. Yeah.

And when he brought up 50 earlier, you were like, oh, my God, I didn't want that to come up. You knew that was coming up, though. That man just left here a couple days ago. So you talked to Salia from TMZ and that clip was everywhere. Yeah, your response to 50 Cent. Your response to 50 Cent. See, that was Tasha. That wasn't a tour.

Your response to 50 and what he was Tasha That wasn't a toy Your response to 50 And what he was saying Up here about Omari And you basically saying Like Omari was ghost Ghost was power So you didn't agree With what 50 said up here That picked up everywhere

And did you regret saying that? Is that why you were like Oh my God Oh I don't regret saying Anything that I say In most cases But I think that You know I was just being honest, you know, and

it's no shade to 50. He has his feelings and I don't know all of the issues that went down, like I said in that interview, but I think overall, I was just trying to express that, you know, power was something that started this whole journey of creating stars, the stars app, and I'm grateful for that opportunity and 50 and Courtney gave me that opportunity so you know at the end of the day I know that there's politics involved in their positions as well so I respect 50 but I also have to honor what Omari Hardwick brought to the table and all I said in that interview was that you know I feel like he is kind of a staple in the power world that we can never undervalue him either

so i just think that as people particularly as black people i'll just say this as black people we have to remember to be okay with valuing each other and really celebrate those moments when we get to a plateau or high moment in our careers even in your field you know you guys negotiate and do deals because you know your worth yeah and there's always gonna be somebody who tells you I know you're not worth that you shouldn't and that's debatable and that's not for me to say what money he should that's I'm not in anybody's you know checks I focus on my check know your power but know your power and also know your worth and it it's okay to push for what you feel you're worth. That's all.

You know what I wanted to ask? We had Mickey Guyton. And Taraji said the same thing. So this is, you know, it's all relative. We had Mickey Guyton up here, country singer. Oh, yes. Was she a member of 3LW? Yes.

So I forgot that Mickey was the first member of 3LW until Adrian and I recently reunited. And Adrian sent me a picture of them with Mickey and she was singing the national anthem. And I was like, oh my gosh, that's right. Because they told me there was a country, she was a girl, she wasn't a country artist then, but I think she lived somewhere.

And then she, her parents pulled her out of the group. And I think that's how I wound up getting an audition for but I had forgot I was 15 so Adrian remembered and reminded me and then I was like I want to meet her one day I mean we've never said she's so dope her voice is crazy but how I was thinking like at that time I was like girl you dodged a bullet but she has her own career but at the end of the day I think i i i'm happy that you know whatever happened with 30w it was supposed to happen that way and here i am today how does the reunion feel because now y'all both are moms i know you guys kind of have you have a

shared experience that none of us will ever understand good and bad isn't it crazy yeah how does that feel to me and adrian talk about like we need to probably talk about this in a formal setting but i'm very grateful that we are reunited. She's a mom, she's a wife, and it's almost like that life brings us closer together. Although there was so much tension in that time period, we look back and actually say, oh, remember when that happened? Oh, girl, like this is what I was thinking back then. And it actually brings us closer.

I'm so happy for her now. I mean, we actually invite each other to each other's homes and she was at my baby shower. It's just unbelievable that someone that, you know, I didn't think I would ever speak to again is now my friend. Did y'all make any promises to each other

that y'all would never have any issues between each other? You so messy, child. Did y'all make any promises? Stop. We did not. No more, no more. Baby, I'm gonna? Stop. We did not. No more. No more.

Baby, I'm going to do right. No, we just continue to support each other. And I don't talk to the promiseth lady. Will that never happen? You'll kill me in. You know, God is good. And look at what he's done in my life. So you just can never say never.

So you're open to it. God is good. All the time. I was just talking about you and Adrian, like, you know, promising to never have any issues between each other. I should smack him. I really, really should.

Like, backhand. This is what I should have did to Tariq. You want to throw this at him? Here, throw this at him. I have these over here just in case all the time. That was a good shot. That was a good shot. So great.

That was a great shot. You know, God is really good. That's what he's talking about. But yeah, no. I wanted to ask Maurice and Unitorio. One of the biggest misconceptions, because you said something earlier that was very important about voting.

Yeah. You have to be an informed voter. Absolutely. And one of the biggest things I hear people say is if you try to talk to them about policy, like, well, the economy was better under, you know, Trump, and it's better under Republicans. I learned this in the last couple of months. That's just been a false narrative all of these years that I don't know why we believe.

Yeah, and we believed it. This is misinformation and disinformation. All right. So, first of all, Donald Trump inherited the Obama economy. Right. So whatever economy that you remember when Donald Trump came into office, that was the Obama economy, the Obama economy. And look, again, to me, the Obama economy is the floor. I'm with working families. I want an economy that in many ways focuses directly on the interests of labor unions in ways that we still are trying to get to. But the Obama economy

was generating jobs month after month after month. So he inherited that. And then people don't remember. But if you remember four years ago, we were under COVID, right? Millions of jobs were lost, right? People were sheltered in place. And some people say like, well, you know, that was COVID. But presidents will face untold crises. COVID happened to be his crisis. What happened when that man faced that crisis? He unraveled, talking about injecting bleach. And his own health officials say that hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. They didn't have to because the man couldn't keep it together. And so when Kamala Harris. Don't forget the trade wars.

Oh, yeah. I mean, but I want to talk about the trade wars. Right. Because the only thing that we hear this man talk about, I'm going to get into that is tariffs. And let me let me get into that. So so Biden and Harris inherited this economy. That was the the Trump covid economy. And if we remember, I think some of us have suppressed that memory because it was so traumatic. We don't want to remember it. But so many of our neighbors died. More than a million people died. So many of our friends died. Our families. So many people were out of work. Right. And then

they were able to pass the Recovery Act, which which brought a lot of resources to state governments, into local governments. People talk about the stimulus check. There is a Biden-Harris stimulus as well and many, many other policies, which today. Right. And I want the economy to work for so many more people. And I'll get to that. But today, this economy is making jobs, making jobs, manufacturing jobs, making union jobs. Right. And I almost feel bad for this man because he doesn't, look, I'm not an economist, but he doesn't understand economics 101, right? Economics 101. Tariffs hurt everyday working people, right?

So it's like China doesn't pay the tariffs. You pay the tariffs, right? So you're talking about 2,000% tariffs. That is a tax on working people. So on one side, you're talking about a tax on working people. On another side, you're talking about what? A $6,000 child tax credit, right? You're talking about $25,000 assistance for homebuyers. You're talking about $50,000 for people who have a dream or a hustle or they want to start a business or maybe artists that want to start something, entrepreneurs.

You're talking about policies that you could debate but are focused on the interests of working people. With housing, you're talking about holding accountable who? The largest corporations who are buying up these units. That's one of the reasons why rental prices. Pushing us out of our own communities. Yes. So a lot of these hedge funds are buying up these homes. That's why the prices are becoming so high. They're talking about holding them accountable, right? So when you talk about the economy, also, there's a lot of people who are saying that the American economy today, right,

is one of the biggest, most robust economies in the world, right economy today, right, is is one of the biggest, most robust economies in the world right today. Right. And so we need to tell the truth. I would argue that we can do better. Right. And we have to do better, which is why we build the Working Families Party, because we're not just interested in electing somebody and then going home. We're what we want to fight for more. And in the richest country in the history of countries, there shouldn't even be homelessness. We shouldn't even be talking about how do people afford health care. And we know we don't believe any politician is going to get elected and then give that to us. We need to fight for that on the other side of this election. So first,

job number one is to vote and to vote out the Project 2025 crew. And it's bigger than just Project 2025 on the agenda. We've got to push back on that. And then job number two, after the election, we need to stand on business in order to make sure that this economy actually works for us. Because we know the corporations are going to want to be in people's ears. We need to be in the ears of these politicians as well. But the contrast couldn't be clearer. Honestly, y'all, it's not even a question at this point.

I understand if months ago people had questions, right? No, I don't. I don't understand. But it's the problem. And I'm going to tell you what the problem is, Maurice. Right. The problem is this, right? And this is what I realized the other day, right?

Yeah. A lot of people don't have the time to do the research to see if the things that they're researching is right, right? And I'm going to tell you why. Absolutely. I'm watching the World Series, right? the things that they're researching is right right and i'm gonna tell you why absolutely absolutely i'm watching the world series right yeah and they're playing ads and people don't know if those ads are real or fake right that's correct nine to five but you have two jobs you come home you say you know what i'm gonna turn on the world series while i cook

for my kids and you're watching these ads you don't know what to believe or not absolutely and most people don't know that a lot of those ads are full of yes yes and or when they go online to look yeah a lot of stuff that they're looking for and i feel silly with this this terms online a lot of the stuff that they're looking for is false. So how do people know what's real and what's not? I mean, they put an ad with me and Charlamagne on there. Oh, yeah.

Oh, I saw that. Oh, listen. When you saw that, you thought your brother sold you out? No, no. Well, no, I was just like, this is crazy. And Charlamagne, I know how political. We did the movie 88 together, which was a political thriller, about these very issues in the election and just super PACs. how you know political we did the movie 88 together which was a political thriller about

these very issues in an election and and just super packs so it's funny because everything you said is so true like they you know you don't know and people don't often have time so what i want to say to add to what you said and marie said is that you know we're just swiping through social media and that's the only maybe quick in a hurry it's like fast food right that's right and fast food you know you gotta just eat because you gotta eat that's right sometimes you don't have time to or you may not have the resource or the money to go get a real meal so you but you gotta eat right so i'm gonna go ahead and get this burger or hopefully it is real meat i don't know but i'm digesting something that i'm not really sure is right or good for me and even true.

Yeah. And that's why I encourage everybody, because I believe that the ultimate antiseptic to these lies, it's not just better information because we need better information. It's relationships. Right. Because if I have a if I have a trusted relationship with you and you're spouting this, I could be like, yo, all right, MV, let me actually share with you what's up. And we could have a conversation because we trust each other. And, you know, when we were in Philly, we had an amazing closed door conversation with working class black men. And we were having real talk. In a barbershop.

We went to a barbershop and just sat, you know, my husband was really a part of that conversation. And all these men sat and talked. I was really observing because, you know, as a woman, I didn't want to be in that conversation because I don't know what black men's struggles or what they're dealing with. But that was such a great thing that, you know, you guys and working families organized because people do need to just sit

and talk to each other. But as a woman, what did you observe in that conversation that like Kamala Harris and like, you know, her team is focusing on right now? Like, you know, I think a lot of black men felt like, you know, don't just pick me up and use me now. Some people did feel, you know, even with Kamala Harris, you know, at the end of the day, some people are feeling like, oh, now y'all in both parties. Now y'all want to focus on black men? Or now there's conversations about what,

so there was a real, you know, some people are frustrated. Some people are feeling, you know, discouraged. And some people are like, no,

you know, they were educators and they were all talking. And my husband talked about, you know, the influence of the culture. And they talked about Quavo and different people that are being utilized. But black men were feeling like, are we going to still matter when the election is over?

So how do we organize ourselves? And I think they were talking amongst themselves about what can we do to make sure we're not just used as a tool. That's right. That's right. Because for far too long, when it comes time to vote, the parties, they come to us. They come to us for some of to us. They come to us for so many. They come to our culture for everything. They come to our culture to make money, to start brands, and to get people into these polls. And the day after, it's often crickets when it comes to our agenda, which is why we build organizations like the Working Families Party, so we can hold them all accountable. And so to me, I thought it was historic. And so props to VP Harris for having a platform specifically for black men. She didn't just create that after Barack Obama made those comments.

No, no, no. She's been doing that. I know that she's been working on it. Right. But there's a narrative that it feels like it's just happened. And that's not true. And that agenda to me is the floor. You know, props to Black Men Bill, props to Phil Agnew, Black Men Bill and the nine bars,

right? There are all types of platforms for black men, right? So I'm happy that that happened. I think it's historic to have a major candidate actually address our issues that shows we have power, right? And also, I want to dispel this misinformation that black men don't vote, or black men don't vote for or vote for black women, or somehow we could lose the black men don't vote or black men don't vote for or vote for black women or somehow we could lose the black men are engaged right black men are very much engaged there's one population of people who always vote on freedom more than anybody else that's black women only rivaled by black men that's right right and so we just need to dispel that all of this gender war stuff any any information that's about dividing us in our community

is information that is set upon by our enemies. Because they're afraid if we as black people come together. And then the other thing that they're afraid of is when working class black people, Latino people, and working class white people, and native people, and Asian people, we all come together. That's the thing that they are definitely afraid of. That's why they killed Martin.

Yes. I mean, and that's exactly all the leaders and even in the culture. If you can bring people together through music, through the arts, or through what you're speaking or your activism, and literally that transcends color lines. And then before you know it, you have so much power that they can't control you. Because essentially, power is freedom. That's right. transcends color lines. And then before you know it, you have so much power that they can't control you because essentially power is freedom. That's right.

And without freedom, you know, that's where we all are fighting for. And that's why voting now matters because we're fighting not just for power. We're fighting for freedom. And that's, what's important to us. That's right.

How do they support your work, Marie? Okay. Well, there's so many ways and people could get involved right now. I know this show is, for a lot of people, is entertainment and education, but I'm an organizer, so I'm always going to have a call to action. And so don't see this simply as education, as entertainment.

See this as your call to action. If you want to get in this work between now and Election Day, because we're still talking to voters. You can. And we still need to talk to voters. It's true. When you look at the polls, it's going to be close, right? You can matter.

And so I encourage everybody to text the word power, pun intended, to 30403, power to 30403. You could go to workingfamilies.org. You could see our list of endorsed candidates. And by the way, we're on these streets every single day. Right. So we've endorsed close to a thousand candidates. We do that every single year. And so if you're interested, there are organizations for you. And my my role is to get you organized. I would love for you to join the Working Families Party if for whatever reason you want to volunteer, go to the site. Absolutely. You could volunteer. You could get on board. And if everything or anything I've said aligns with you, then congratulations. You already are a Working Families Party member. You might as well make it official. Come on board and get this work because we're going to be on the streets in every major swing state. We're also for folks that might not know this in California and in New York, there are swing districts.

Right. And so there are swing districts, right? And so there are congressional districts. This is an opportunity to be able to make a difference there. And then if you vote in Connecticut and New York, we have a ballot line. And in New York, you could vote Roe D on the Working Families Party line. You could vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, not on the Democratic Party line, but on Roe D, Working Families Party line. Why that is why that's important is that you could say, yes, absolutely. I saw the hate rally at Madison Square Garden. I understand the assignment. I don't want to vote that man in. I'm going to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

But I care about the fact that we need to focus our resources on education and health care and not on wars abroad, right? Then you can vote on the Working Families Party line, which says, this is my candidate choice, but this is also the agenda I vote on. And in those states, you could do that. Policies that you believe in and making sure that we take care of us at home and not just abroad. That's right. We need people to support us here in America, in these cities. So that's also why we do what we do. Yeah, and we can't put at the center these politicians and their biographies and their stories, which is like all good. We have to put at the center our families, our children, our communities,

and use that in order to determine what chess move we make. I like to say that elections and voting is not a love letter, right? So you don't have to like folks. You don't have to love folks. You don't have to trust folks in order to vote your interest and in order to make that chess move. So if you want to make that chess move with us, I invite you to join Working Families.

There you go. Notori Norton-Lewis. Yes, yes, yes. Maurice Mitchell. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. Thank you all so much. It's The Breakfast Club.

Good morning. Wake that ass up early in. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.