The Breakfast Club - Tamika D. Mallory Speaks On Receiving Death Threats, Standing For Kentucky, Breonna Taylor + More

Episode Date: September 19, 2023

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Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.

Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts

that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Welcome to Gracias Come Again,

a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking musica, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews

with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed

with gems, fun, straight up comedia, and that's a song that only Nuestra Gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha Guy. We are The Breakfast Club.

It's time for some front page news. This morning, though, we got Tameka Mallory on the line. Good morning, Tameka. Good morning. Good morning. Not just on the line. Tameka's on the front lines. Tameka is back in Kentucky. Not just on the line. Tamika's on the front lines. Tamika is back in Kentucky.

Kentucky, that's right. Why is our good sister Tamika Mallory back in Kentucky? Well, you know, we made a commitment three years ago to Breonna Taylor's family that we would not just come out and protest, but that we would continue to work with the community through all the phases. And we're in a second phase, if you will, or another phase of the fight for justice for her and the community, which is to stop the man who was the special prosecutor on the case who should have secured indictments for the officers who killed Breonna Taylor. He is the attorney general, the current attorney general of the state of Kentucky. His name is Daniel Cameron, and he is now running for governor, which means he would receive a promotion for not doing what's necessary to bring justice to

this community and to this family. He has been very clear that he is a police guy. He's, in fact, a black man who is very much so in support of the police. He is endorsed by Donald Trump. It's something that he uses all over in his campaigns, his ads for his race. He is very close to Mitch McConnell and in many ways is seen as a potential successor to Mitch McConnell here in the state of Kentucky. And if you look at his policies, how he wants to be tough on crime, which is usually a dog whistle for locking up black and brown folks and not really trying to provide us with the resources that we need.

You know, he's a pretty dangerous guy. I would say that he's like the black cousin of Ron DeSantis, who is the governor of Florida. And so we are back in Kentucky from now until November 7th when his election will happen, ensuring that people are, one, registered to vote, and two, that they are very clear about who they're voting for and what this man is capable of. One of the things in his 12-point plan that he wants to do, if this helps to sort of draw a picture or paint a picture of who he is, is to get rid of civilian complaint review boards. He wants to stop the civilians from having the authority to sanction police officers when they

do something wrong, right? He's talking about giving the death penalty to offenders. He is a very, very dangerous man. And his policies are policies that we're trying to move away from. And so we don't want him to be. So, you know, I have the personal vendetta because of his behavior in the Breonna Taylor case. But his policies are also very dangerous. And the last thing I'll say is, you know, if you there are some people who believe that we as activists and organizers, we just always don't like someone. But if you go back and look at the time when the grand jury had been in panel and they were meeting in terms of whether they would bring charges for Breonna Taylor. was that after it was over, Daniel Cameron came forward and said that those jurors did not find charges for the officers, for Breonna Taylor specifically. In fact, the only charge that

came out of that grand jury was a bullet going through the wall and how it could have potentially hurt someone on the other side. The jurors came forward, at least three of them, they came forward and said that they had never been presented with charges for Breonna Taylor, that they waited until the end. They thought they would hear about Breonna Taylor, but they didn't. So therefore, Daniel Cameron lied. So not only is he bad on policy, not only is he a police guy, but he's also a liar and an obstructionist to justice. I got two more questions to me before we talk about, you know, what I really want you to talk about. Is there another candidate you all are supporting against Daniel Cameron? Well, we are really here to first of all, there's only two candidates.

There's the current governor, Governor Beshear, who happens to be a Democrat. And Governor Beshear, I happens to be a Democrat. And Governor Beshear, I wouldn't say he's terrible, but of course, you and I talk all the time about how much more the Democratic Party has to do in order to be as committed to us as voters as we've been to them. So I wouldn't sit here and tell you that I'm this huge Beshear supporter, but he is the alternative candidate. And one of the things that Governor Bashir has done is restored the voting rights of 170,000 people who are formerly incarcerated or people who have convictions, felony convictions, and 60,000 of those people registered to vote, but only 10,000 of them have been to the polls.

So as far as we're concerned, that 170,000 people is an important number for what we're doing here now and what power looks like or power building looks like in the state of Kentucky. So we do give him credit for that. There's been some other things that he's done. There are local people in the state of Kentucky who some support him. Others have real issues with him. But for the most part, those people who are grassroots leaders on the ground are saying vote for Governor Beshear and vote and do not vote for Daniel Cameron. Well, for those just listening, we're talking to Tamika Mallory. She's out in Kentucky. Now, one thing that I didn't see I seen you on live the other day that said that your life was threatened and that uh somebody threatened your hotel room that's what we need to get to and all that other stuff so to explain to the people what happened and some

people just don't know how dangerous your work is and what you have to deal with it they think you just stand on the front line and you shout and you scream but it's a lot it's a lot more than that so break down what's what's been going on and happening with you right now. Yes, they do. I do stand on the front line and yell and scream. I do that, too, which is probably why the death threats were coming through the several hotels in the state in Kentucky and Louisville, Kentucky, receive phone calls from someone, a man asking whether or not I was staying at those hotels. And of course, if the protocol is followed properly, hotels would never say that the person is here. So they said, well, she's not, they said, we can't give out that information. And the response was, well, it doesn't matter whether she's staying there or not, but tell the bitch that I'm going to shoot her. So that was the, that was the first call. And of course, you know,

they, they tracked me down. The, the police department in Kentucky and the Louisville specifically, they know how to reach me. Whether it be from the people that I work closely with here who work within the system and or just the fact that I've been arrested a few times here and as well as just relationships that we've built. So they tracked me down, had a conversation with me. They had police to meet me to let me know that it sound like a credible threat. They were concerned about it. And we did a report in which detectives got involved. So that was earlier in the day. Later in the evening, more calls came in. And we did a report in which detectives got involved. So that was earlier in the day. Later in the evening, more calls came in. And this particular call was much more nerve-wracking,

if you will, for me. It was much more concerning because the person called exactly at the time that I was arriving to the hotel. And they knew the color car that I was in. And they told the person at the front desk, you know, you see her, the bitch that just got out of the car and they named the color car and said, we're going to shoot her and we're going to shoot up the hotel. So once they started, you know, first of all, I'm sure that the officers, most of them do not want me to be harmed here in Louisville. So when I met with the officers early in the day, they called, they checked in.

They were really, really serious about it. But I think that once someone says they're going to shoot up a hotel, it turns into a whole different situation when we're in this climate where there are mass shootings, where people are walking into buildings and shooting multiple people. And so at that point, the Department of Justice, the FBI and all these other individuals became concerned about what's happening. So, you know, since then, things have been pretty cool. That doesn't mean that we're not still being watched. We went through this. Y'all know it because you reported on it when we lived here.

Why do you say since then, Tamika? You've only been there 72 hours. What do you mean since then? Every day. Every day. Listen, we got through yesterday without anyone reporting any calls. But the day before was a really bad day. And I think, you know what, for me,

as I said, you all have covered this before, because when we were living in Kentucky for four months in the thick of fighting for Breonna Taylor, we were being threatened every day. We had all types of police surveillance. We had the white supremacists coming after us. We would find them, you know, our security, they found people in the bushes. I mean, it was just a nightmare what we went through. And so we're pretty much used to it, not saying that that means that we don't take it seriously because we do. And we do have a very expensive, unfortunately, security team of brothers who love and protect me with their life and protect us with their lives. But what really

bothered me wasn't so much that the threat was against me. It's that there's a person, I don't know what they make, but let's just say for the purpose of this conversation, $18 an hour, and you're answering the phone in a hotel and someone is saying that they're going to shoot up the hotel. That's scary. It's scary for their families. It's scary for them personally. Now, the rest of the time that I'm doing my job, I'm worrying about who might come through this door and what might happen and then trying to relay that to my family members.

It's no joke. So we don't take it lightly. We understand the significance of those types of threats. And yes, more than likely, people are not going to call you and tell you they're going to kill you. But we know that at the top shooting in the top supermarket shooting in Buffalo, that man had been there before he was surveilling the location. So it's not, it's not a hundred percent on, um, that it won't happen, that someone will come surveillance, you know, do surveil the area, maybe even call and then go out and do something heinous, like to try to murder people. So we do take it seriously. Why do you even have to be there, Tamika? I asked you this yesterday,

but I want you to, I want to say this publicly. Why do you have to be there? Yeah, that's a good question. Cause people are like, you should go home, including some of my family members are like, yeah, you did enough. Like, go home. But again, I promised Tamika Palmer, Breonna Taylor's mother, that we were never going to leave her. And to have Daniel Cameron knowing, and by the way, some people will say, well, maybe there were no charges. Well, there were because the Department of Justice has the civil rights charges that have been filed against those officers are significant. So it's not that there was nothing there. There was absolutely something to indict those officers on because we now see that the federal government has moved in to do so. And they don't do that

unless they know. And by the way, once they started, once they got a little bit of information and they started pricking into it, people started coming forward. And when I say people, I'm talking about police officers telling the truth about what took place and the ways in which they covered up the murder of Breonna Taylor. So we have a real serious chip on our shoulder with this because we were here and we could have lost our lives. Something really bad could have happened to us as it did Breonna. And I promised Tamika that I would help her to finish the job. And one thing I always tell folks, it's a lot of people that are online activists and I don't take

anything away from them because raising awareness is a part of activism. But I'm an organizer that is from the old school. And I believe you have to knock on doors and look people in their eyes and remind them of their power and remind them of the importance of them paying attention to not just elections, but whatever the movements are for social causes happening in their community. And so when we lived here before, we knocked on doors. We took food to 4,000 families. We held conferences. We did things in this community that has, we built a family here of organizers. And we know what they need.

They're doing the work on their own. But we help them to bring it and raise the attention to a national level so people will know what's going on in Kentucky. It is. And, you know, and you all know, because we talk about this, it's a virus that's spreading. So what's happening in Kentucky has national implications because of Daniel Cameron becomes governor. His behavior, his policies, the ways in which he thinks I just told you you he's like the black cousin of Ron DeSantis. They are spreading something across this nation that is dangerous for our people. And so that's why I'm here. I'm here because I don't believe that I can just send a text message and a phone call and really motivate our people to get to the polls.

Now, let me ask you a question for people out there that want to help that want to uh donate time finances or whatever how can they do that and where can they do that what's the site so it's best to go to untilfreedom.com untilfreedom.com it's safe it's secure it's an account it goes straight to us it's best to invest in our work through the website, untilfreedom.com. But there are some people who want to send cash at, and we're completely fine with that. It's untilfreedom. On Cash App, it's untilfreedom. The reason why I say it's best to go to untilfreedom.com is because there are imposters that since 2020 have been putting up accounts either with my picture or the Until

Freedom picture. And they have added things like NY or US or extra L or something that will make someone who's not paying attention closely, choose that and send money. And we know for sure, because we have verified it with Cash App, that that money, thousands of dollars have gone to these fake accounts. So we ask people that if you're going to do Cash App, pay attention to the words being spelled properly. It's Until Freedom. And there is no NY, there's no US, there's nothing else. But if you can, it's really quick to just go to untilfreedom.com and give that way. Well, Tamika, we love you. We value you. We appreciate you. We thank you for always being on the front lines, you know,

fighting for us, even when it's not the sexy, sexy story or sexy thing to do at the moment. And you know, like you said yesterday, you getting all these death threats and it's easier to do something when it's in the dark. So that's why we shining a light on the work you're doing in Kentucky right now. Thank you so much.

And be safe out there. Love y'all. Appreciate you. Hopefully I'll be able to come in when we get back. Absolutely. Peace. Wake that ass up. In the morning.

The breakfast club. Had enough of this country ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not.

No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-A-Stan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations 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. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, this is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, 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 iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking música, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories,

combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only Nuestra Gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.