0:00

It's been another busy news week and we like

0:02

to review the major stories of the week here on the Black

0:04

Information Network. Today, we are

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joined by Black Information Network news anchors

0:09

Esther Dillard and Doug Davis to discuss

0:11

this week's major stories. This

0:14

is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast

0:16

and I'm your host, ramses Jah.

0:19

All right, Doug Davis, welcome back to the show.

0:21

Tell me how you've been man?

0:23

Oh man, life is beautiful, nothing

0:25

to complain about. Could complain, but why

0:28

you know, God gave us this day. Let's

0:30

use it, man and be the best man. All

0:32

right, let's get to it. And Esther, I know we

0:34

got some special stuff to talk about with you. But before

0:37

we get there, how have you been doing?

0:39

Really well? It's been a nice, nice

0:43

week or two, and even

0:45

though it's gloomy outside and rainy,

0:47

I am still having sunshine

0:49

on the inside.

0:50

All right, all right. It reminds me of when Drake

0:53

said, you know, I haven't taken a loss all

0:55

week. That's a prolific

0:58

statement you made there. All right, Well, let's get to the

1:00

names about ditty though.

1:01

Sorry oh wow, wow, okay,

1:04

sorry early, it's too early, all

1:08

right. First up in the midst of dealing with the tragedy

1:10

of the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse. Baltimore

1:12

Mayor Brandon Scott is also dealing with comments

1:15

from critics that referred to him as a

1:18

di mayor. Esther

1:21

share with us more about this story and the black

1:23

mayor's response, and then Doug Brenna come to you next.

1:26

Well, I tell you Baltimore

1:28

Mayor Brandon Scott, he has

1:31

been dealing with a lot with the

1:33

collapse of the

1:35

the Francis key I'm

1:37

sorry the Francis Scott key Bridge.

1:40

Yeah.

1:41

And after that there

1:43

have been a number of conservatives who

1:45

have gone on social media various

1:48

platforms and basically

1:51

blasting the administration

1:54

saying that he is a de I

1:56

mayor and kind of using it in a derogatory

1:58

sense. And so Baltimore

2:01

Mayor Scott pretty much responded to a

2:04

paper called The Banner and he said, quote,

2:06

we know what these folks really want to say. They when

2:08

they say DEI mayor, whether it is

2:11

DEI or clown, they really want

2:14

to say the N word. But there is nothing

2:16

that they can say to make me that is

2:18

worse. Say to me that is worse than

2:20

the treatment of my ancestors. I am proud of

2:22

who I am and where I come from. That's the

2:25

end quote. So he went on MSNBC's

2:28

and the readout with Joy Reid to take

2:30

it one step further, and he said to him, DEI

2:32

stands for duly elected incumbent.

2:35

I thought that was And Joy

2:37

pointed out that he he basically

2:39

won his election with seventy percent of the vote,

2:42

and that with the population

2:44

of about forty percent of black and brown folks.

2:46

So it's not like he was just put there because

2:48

he was given the position without

2:51

being qualified, and voters obviously thought he

2:53

was, you know, qualified, so they

2:56

voted him into the position because it

2:58

ends and he is the and doing a

3:01

very good job given the situation.

3:03

And I'll leave it there. Sure, sure, Doug, let's

3:06

get your thoughts.

3:06

Well, you know, I'm going to give it to Republicans.

3:09

They are pr geniuses.

3:12

They have a unique way of plugging

3:14

their message anyway they can, and

3:16

in this instance they get an A plus.

3:18

Republicans use media to

3:21

hammer their agendas. And so my point

3:23

is that they know perception becomes

3:25

reality. And

3:28

I'm not discounting most savage Americans,

3:30

but they may not really know the ins and outs of

3:32

diversity, equity, and inclusion, and

3:34

like Mayor Scott said, DEI is the

3:37

new n word for them. They

3:39

seem to think that because you're

3:41

black and have power, somehow

3:43

you're not qualified to do the job and

3:46

you were hired for elected

3:48

to do that because of DEI,

3:51

you know. Not long ago, Elon Musk discredited

3:54

black pilots and doctors who've benefited

3:56

from DEI programs and

3:58

that the only reason why they're in those professions

4:01

is not because of their intelligence, but because

4:03

DEI helped them out along

4:05

the way. May have helped them out along the way, but

4:08

they couldn't get there if they weren't qualified.

4:10

And so I think there really needs

4:13

to be more clarification about,

4:17

you know, how DEI affects

4:19

Americans in a very positive way, not

4:22

the other way. And this perception

4:25

that Republicans are pushing is unfortunately

4:27

becoming a big reality for most

4:30

Americans who are gainner somewhat kind of clueless

4:32

about what it's all about.

4:33

Sure, sure, you know, And I think to your point,

4:36

the messaging that comes

4:38

from republic King is very effective,

4:43

and as a result, it becomes very challenging

4:46

because you know,

4:48

they did the same thing with CRT. You

4:50

know, they made it into this boogeyman

4:54

based off of nothing. You know, it's education

4:56

and it's a collegiate level elective,

5:01

you know, and they

5:03

took that term and

5:06

then rebranded

5:08

it to cover all of American

5:10

history in all grades. And

5:15

as a result of that, voters

5:20

began to associate these

5:22

very extreme concepts

5:25

with things that were being taught to kindergarteners

5:29

and first graders and third graders, and

5:31

that just isn't true. You know, the older

5:33

you get, the more mature your mind becomes,

5:35

the more you're able to handle the realities

5:38

of different situations. But you

5:40

know, for people to say, we don't want white children

5:43

to feel upset or ashamed, a

5:46

completely like you see how the Republicans

5:48

completely rebranded it into

5:50

something that would make white children

5:53

feel ashamed, right, And sure,

5:56

they're centering white children, and that's a whole

5:58

separate conversation, but the fact

6:00

of the matter is that CRT

6:02

never affected any white child ever

6:05

in the history of this country. But you know, the

6:07

way that Republicans had rebranded

6:09

it so that it encompassed

6:11

all of American history, and really, you know, try

6:13

to remove that from the curriculum or

6:16

have a whitewashed version of it. I

6:19

remember seeing in Texas

6:21

there was you know, they took the word slavery

6:24

out and replaced it with workers in

6:26

one of the textbooks, right, and so this really

6:28

speaks to a decidedly

6:31

Republican agenda. And as far as this DEI

6:33

mayor is concerned, you know,

6:35

this is not the only time that we've seen this.

6:38

You know, as you mentioned, this DEI rebrand

6:41

is kind of spreading. You know, there

6:43

was an instance in Montgomery,

6:46

Alabama, where there was a

6:49

worker at an airport and she was

6:51

black and she just got a little bit too

6:53

close to one of the engines and was sucked into

6:55

the engine and lost her life of the airplane.

6:58

And you know there were people on social media

7:01

referring to her as a DEI higher,

7:04

right, I remember that

7:06

there was you

7:08

know, when when this Boeing

7:12

Boeing's issues plural started

7:15

to make headlines, you

7:18

know, I came across it might

7:20

have been a tweet or a post or something like that, but

7:22

it said, you know, Boeing used

7:25

to be run by engineers and

7:27

then in the pursuit of profits. This is effectually

7:29

what it said in the pursuit of profits. It

7:33

was taken over by like the finance

7:35

guys, right, and the cost

7:37

cutting guys, and then the profit seekers

7:39

and so forth, and then

7:41

all of these problems started happening within

7:43

Boeing Boeing, but rather

7:45

than looking at the reality of the situation,

7:48

they blamed DEI. And that tells

7:50

you everything that you need to know about

7:52

this kind of co opting

7:54

of what diversity, equity and inclusion

7:57

is supposed to mean and represent

8:00

exactly.

8:00

So, if I can add, so, what happens

8:02

is when the average person doesn't

8:05

know these stories right, they don't know the

8:07

details right, and particularly

8:09

if they feel a certain way about

8:12

people who look like you and I, that

8:14

they're automatically going to assume

8:17

they get what they want the story. Archie,

8:19

good point, and so that so now

8:21

it's like the one man guys. Really

8:24

it's just sad. Absolutely

8:27

moving on.

8:27

Earlier this week, video footage was released that captured

8:30

the moment a fifteen year old girl was shot

8:32

by California police while unarmed and following

8:35

police instructions. Doug, you've been following. It starts with

8:37

the Black Information Network, So give us the latest details

8:39

and then Estra, we're gonna come with you sure.

8:41

Resolutely, yeah, absolutely uh. Recently

8:43

released video reveals that a black girl who

8:46

had been abducted did comply with

8:48

police orders prior to her being fatally

8:50

shot by them. It happened in

8:52

San Bernardino County, California.

8:55

The backstory is that the teenager, Savannah,

8:57

was fifteen years old when her father, Anthony

9:00

John Gurasiano, allegedly abducted

9:02

her following the murder of her mother.

9:05

Now this happened back on September twenty

9:08

seventh, twenty twenty two. Sheriff's

9:11

deputies were searching for the man and eventually

9:13

cornered his car on the side

9:15

of a highway. A confrontation

9:18

went down between Graziano

9:20

and the sam Berndardino Sheriff's deputies,

9:22

and Savannah was tragically shot and killed

9:24

when she hopped out of the car. Now,

9:26

despite initial claims by authorities

9:28

that she exited the vehicle wearing

9:30

tactical gear and shooting an officer's,

9:33

new video footage contradicts this,

9:36

showing Savannah following police directions

9:38

at the time of her death. Audio

9:40

from the scene includes officer shouting

9:43

passenger get out and I'm

9:46

here, followed by saying oh no,

9:48

after shots were fired. Her

9:51

father also lost his life in the

9:53

incident. Now the video again just

9:55

being released. The sheriff's office

9:58

apparently refused to release He's the footage.

10:00

However, a journalist Independent Journalists

10:03

requested the videos nearly eighteen

10:05

months ago, just received

10:07

it, presented the footage to The Guardian,

10:09

who then released it on their website.

10:13

Yeah, all right, esther, let's get

10:15

your thoughts. I know it's a sad one.

10:17

Yeah, it's very sad because one,

10:20

it's sad because she was following orders

10:22

and it appears that that's reason

10:25

why she was killed. And this

10:27

is not the first time I'm with this

10:29

particular sheriff's department. Just

10:32

about two weeks ago, maybe

10:34

three weeks ago, same sheriff's

10:36

department killed black autistics

10:38

fifteen year old boy named Ryan Gainer.

10:41

Ryan was having a mental health episode

10:43

when he you know,

10:46

they the police pulled up as well. Actually,

10:49

he was having a mental health episode

10:51

breaking down. He was breaking

10:54

things in the house. The

10:56

family called the police. The

10:59

police came, They didn't try and to escalate

11:01

the situation. Within

11:03

seeing him within a few minutes of seeing

11:06

him with a garden hoe

11:08

in his hand, and they said

11:10

that he came at them with the garden

11:12

hoe and they fatally shot him.

11:15

So it's just raising concerns

11:17

in not only California,

11:20

but a lot of people are saying, what is going

11:23

on with you know, when it comes to

11:25

a lethal force on children and

11:28

there's no effort to de escalate

11:30

the crisis. So, no, it's

11:32

two different things, but it's

11:34

still dealing with pretty much young

11:37

people that the

11:39

police are you know, taking

11:42

and doing these kind of extreme

11:45

forces on young people who

11:47

apparently are not

11:49

are not armed. And what's really

11:51

sad is that now

11:53

that we see this footage, people

11:56

are questioning if there's you know, a possible cover

11:58

up because you know, if you

12:01

first put out a message saying that she

12:03

was in tactical gear and then there's clear

12:05

footage that she wasn't, then what's going

12:07

on?

12:08

Yeah, you know, one of the things that is

12:12

interesting about this now, I don't

12:15

know the girl's race. She

12:17

does to be fair look a little ethnically

12:20

ambiguous, but she

12:23

is we'll

12:25

say, white presenting.

12:27

Her father certainly is is white

12:29

presenting despite the last name. And

12:34

you know, you mentioned, you know the stories

12:36

that you cover where there are you know, black

12:38

children in the same predicament. I certainly cover

12:42

a lot of those stories, and I read pretty

12:44

much all of them. You know, I can't, it's not possible

12:46

to cover them all. But I wonder

12:48

if the

12:51

the interest in determining whether

12:54

or not this is a police cover up stems

12:56

from the fact that the little girl is

12:58

white presenting, because

13:02

this lays bear the

13:04

fact that police

13:07

are not always the

13:09

heroes that they're painted

13:12

to be. There

13:15

is no precision here. There

13:17

is this heavy handed, ready

13:19

fire aim approach. There

13:22

is this killer

13:24

bully mentality that

13:27

gun solved the problems. And

13:31

you know, obviously every

13:33

time an officer pulls out a gun,

13:38

their excuse is either I was afraid

13:41

from my life or I was afraid that someone

13:43

else was going to be injured. And for those of us have seen

13:45

the footage, you know the uh when

13:48

the girl gets out of the car and

13:50

is walking toward them, She's got her

13:53

hands up, she's doing everything that the

13:55

officer says. She stops, she gets on the ground,

13:57

they tell her to come come here, Come here. Because the

14:00

belt audio was released

14:02

in addition to the video footage, so you can hear

14:04

what the officers saying. And as Doug mentioned,

14:09

you know, they when when she gets

14:12

shot, the officer that was kind of issuing

14:14

the commands tells

14:17

tells everyone to stop shooting, like no, this is

14:19

the girl that he's in the truck, you

14:21

know. And so yeah,

14:25

there, we really do need

14:27

to rethink policing.

14:30

We absolutely need to do it. You

14:33

know, when it comes to police

14:36

error rates, you know, police mishandling

14:39

of investigations

14:42

or of you know, pursuits,

14:46

you know, the error rate is so much higher than

14:48

what should be acceptable when the cost is

14:51

human life. Right, this little

14:53

girl, her story ended right there in that field.

14:55

She doesn't get to grow up. This is not her

14:57

fault. She wasn't doing anything wrong and the

14:59

police killed her. The police

15:01

killed her. You can make an argument that our

15:04

dad had her in that position. You could make an argument

15:06

that wrong place, wrong time. No, the

15:08

police pulled out their guns and they ended her life

15:10

and she died in the ground. Okay.

15:12

And that thing about it, and I just

15:14

want to add, is that they put out

15:16

a report that she had been kidnapped.

15:19

It's not like they didn't know. So I

15:21

think that there should have been there

15:24

needs to be like a revamping of how they

15:26

handle the situation where there's a hostage

15:29

involved, you're going to kill all the hostages

15:31

as well. I mean, that's the problem, that's

15:33

the issue. I think that there

15:35

needs to be a change in policy.

15:37

Period. Here's the thing. Inevitably

15:42

a plane is going to crash, right

15:45

So despite the ongoing

15:48

efforts of the FCC

15:50

and you know, these

15:53

the associated industries, there

15:55

is no such thing as perfection, but in

15:57

that industry they pursue it vigorously.

16:01

And I think that the same type of pursuit needs

16:03

to take place when it comes to policing. And

16:06

what we've seen is that it's the human

16:08

beings that are wearing the uniforms

16:10

that make the mistakes, and it cost other human

16:12

beings their lives, and it disproportionately affects our

16:14

community. So, if I may, I've

16:18

been in countries around the world where

16:21

not every police officer has a gun. Most

16:23

places are like that. They

16:26

still have access to those weapons. If they need them,

16:28

they keep them in the trunk of their car. They don't keep them on

16:30

their person as though some death

16:33

is around the next corner. Right here,

16:36

we keep guns on every single police officer.

16:38

You have a gun, and if they're that

16:41

prone to being afraid for their own lives,

16:44

they're more likely to use it. Right, if

16:46

it takes them a second to get to their car to get

16:48

the gun, you know, then

16:52

they might not ready fire aim. They

16:54

might get it only when they absolutely need

16:56

it, And it might not be six or eight officers,

16:59

meaning six or eight potential people to make

17:01

a mistake like this, because once one officer

17:03

hears a gunshot go off, now there's

17:05

eight other people with weapons

17:08

also shooting because it's on now, right,

17:11

And so you know, the rethink doesn't

17:13

have to be super complicated, and of course there

17:15

will be pushed back while the officers deserve

17:18

to go home and they

17:20

deserve to protect themselves. Well, I happen

17:22

to know that chauffeurs have

17:25

a riskier job than police.

17:29

Taxi drivers have a riskier job, and I suspect

17:31

for the same reason because of crashes.

17:34

Right, So we need to rethink police chases

17:36

because the police are dying as

17:38

a result as a result of that, and when it comes to

17:41

you know, people getting the drop on them with a

17:43

weapon. Listen, retail workers

17:46

die at a disproportionate rate, at higher

17:48

rate than police officers. Retail workers

17:50

at Circle K's and seven eleven's

17:52

and ampms right, that's a

17:54

riskier job than being a police officer. And

17:57

so again, you can't be brave

17:59

and scared at the same time. And you

18:01

obviously can't shoot kids. And

18:04

now that it's a white presenting

18:06

I don't know the kids' race, but now that it's

18:08

a white presenting child, my hope is

18:10

that people are going to start thinking about this critically.

18:12

I don't suspect it's true, but that's my hope.

18:16

Black Information Network News anchors Esther

18:18

Dillard and Doug Davis are here with us discussing

18:21

this week's major stories. All

18:24

Right, civil rights leaders and black students at Tennessee

18:26

State University are joining together to push

18:28

back after the governor of the state vacated

18:31

the university's board. Esther, let's start

18:33

with you again. Tell us more about what's happening at this HBCU,

18:36

and Doug, look, get your thoughts next.

18:38

Well, the HBCU has been having issues

18:40

in terms of finances, and you know,

18:43

because of many changes in

18:45

our economy. That's part of the

18:47

reason why. But Governor Bill Lee announced

18:49

that he appointed eight new board

18:52

members, all of whom are Tennessee State

18:54

University alumni and this

18:56

is all in the midst of them looking for a new

18:59

president for our The HBCU

19:01

now officials said that the college has had financial

19:03

issues, but reports are that they could

19:06

find no improprieties, like

19:08

the board did not do anything

19:10

that was negative or a

19:13

criminal, but they still

19:15

made this move. Civil rights activists,

19:18

including doctor William Barbera with the Poor People's Campaign

19:20

Black Voters Matter, they joined forces

19:23

with a news conference just a couple of days ago

19:25

and a rally with students to

19:28

protest the removal of

19:30

the board members in Nashville.

19:33

Now students really are upset

19:35

about this because they feel

19:37

like they were not even part of this process. They

19:39

didn't ask any of the students who basically

19:42

have to live with what

19:44

the governor has done and

19:47

what they're doing to the school, and it affects

19:49

them and many many

19:51

of them have went on to make a very

19:53

big point to say that TSU is still

19:55

owed two point one billion

19:58

that's what the b due

20:01

to underfunding from the state government

20:03

over the past thirty years. So it

20:06

on its face, you know, looking at it,

20:08

it just looks like there's been a

20:10

hostile takeover of HBCUs,

20:14

of the HBCU, A TSU by

20:17

you know, the state government putting

20:20

in what they deem

20:22

as people that are qualified

20:25

to sit on the board.

20:27

I'll leave it there, Okay, all right, Doug,

20:29

let's hit your thoughts.

20:30

Sure. I was shocked when I initially heard about

20:33

it.

20:33

I mean, I know all about how HBCUs

20:36

have traditionally been underfunded, which

20:38

is, you know what many opponents are

20:40

saying, particularly in this matter. You know, as a graduate

20:43

of an HBCU, I witnessed those results.

20:46

You know, the lack of a funding. It was pretty obvious.

20:48

You know, back in the day, we would you know, visit

20:50

different college campuses on weekends

20:52

and stuff, and.

20:53

We would obviously see that the playing

20:55

field.

20:56

You know, this isn't even Some

20:59

feel perhaps if the school was properly

21:01

funded, none of this would have ever happened. Like

21:03

Esther said, data shows what

21:05

from nineteen eighty seven to twenty twenty two,

21:08

TSU was underfunded by two point one

21:10

billion dollars, you said, with

21:12

the b that's the big one. Representative

21:15

Bo Mitchell, Democrat representing Nashville,

21:18

told The Washington Posts that he's seen some

21:20

pretty horrendous audits, but

21:23

he's never seen an entire board

21:25

of a university be big hated and

21:28

so, you know, maybe a few people, but not

21:30

the entire board. And like Esther

21:32

said, students and alumni continue to voice

21:34

their opinion on the matter, you

21:36

know, saying, hey man, you know, we were blindsided

21:39

by this. You know, they should have at least been alerted

21:41

about the change, and a lot of their

21:43

concerns center around the fact that they hope that these

21:45

new trustees can keep the spirit.

21:47

Of TSU alive.

21:49

And the governor did say

21:51

that all of the new appointees are

21:54

graduates of TSU, So

21:57

let's hope there is some honor in

21:59

this in this move, all right.

22:01

And for our final story, LSU's women's

22:04

basketball team was eliminated from this year's

22:06

college tournament, but that didn't stop the governor

22:09

of the state from criticizing the largely black

22:11

team by suggesting the players should

22:13

lose their scholarships based in something

22:16

other than how they played. Doug. So, give

22:18

our listeners some more details on this story

22:20

in the Neestra will come to you next.

22:21

So Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry recently

22:24

voiced his opinion on the social media platform

22:26

x on the absence of the LSU Lady Tiger's

22:29

basketball team during the national anthem before

22:31

the NCAA Regional final game against

22:33

so Iowa. He says he's in favor

22:35

of implementing a policy mandating student

22:38

athletes be present or be

22:40

present for the national anthem or face

22:42

the possibility of losing their athletic scholarships.

22:45

He put a big emphasis on the importance of

22:47

showing respect for Americans

22:49

who serve and protect the country and

22:51

bringing everyone together under one flag.

22:55

But it was really interesting, you know, when

22:57

you heard the coach's response

23:00

afterwards during the press

23:02

conference about why the

23:05

team wasn't there, and esther, I'm sure

23:07

you have that information.

23:10

She yeah, I was trying

23:12

to figure out whether or not this was like a protest

23:14

of some sort. But the coach,

23:17

you know, she said that this is

23:19

kind of routine that they come

23:21

off the floor after they do their

23:23

pregame stuff to kind of get ready for the game,

23:26

and then they come back out and it was not something

23:28

that they like purposely did

23:30

to try and miss the

23:33

national anthem. It wasn't intentional.

23:37

And when I heard that,

23:39

he was saying too that the athletes

23:41

should, you know, pretty much vacate their

23:43

scholarships because of this.

23:46

I thought that was like extreme. It

23:49

just seems like another attack on black athletes

23:51

because you decide that they're not in compliance and what

23:54

you believe is an important rule unless

23:57

there's a mandate on them being an

23:59

attendance during that time. I really don't

24:01

see what the issue is. My question is

24:03

like, would you have said

24:05

this if the majority of the team were white. Have

24:08

you done this before in the past to

24:10

say that the students should be penalized

24:13

like this, you know, but this have even

24:15

been an issue, you know, So

24:17

I just that was the thing that kind of crossed my

24:19

mind when I was like, why why so such an

24:21

extreme? It

24:24

just seems like another attack on black and brown

24:26

kids.

24:27

You know?

24:28

Is this an equitable type of punishment for

24:30

what the coach says was an oversight? Those

24:33

are some questions that I kind of crossed my mind.

24:35

So I

24:39

think that, you know, you

24:41

kind of nailed it esther when you said

24:43

that this is kind of this

24:46

individual's personal response.

24:50

He's assigning a value to this symbolic

24:54

gesture. Is

24:57

he's quoted as saying, above respect

24:59

for the game is a deeper respect for

25:01

those that serve to protect us and

25:03

unite us under one flag. This

25:06

is from his Twitter

25:09

page. He goes on to say, this

25:11

is a matter of respect that all collegiate

25:15

coaches should instill. Okay,

25:18

So again,

25:20

it's one person's personal reflection,

25:24

but it's based on their values and their sensibility.

25:27

The truth of the matter is that the flag

25:29

does not represent the troops.

25:32

Okay. That absolutely does not represent

25:34

the troops. It represents the United States of America.

25:37

Okay. So even if this was

25:39

a protest and it

25:42

was a flag ceremony, and the protest was

25:44

during the flag ceremony, that

25:46

in no way singles out the troops,

25:49

right, unless otherwise stated that

25:51

we don't like troops specifically. The

25:54

fact that people like him connected

25:57

with the troops is kind of like that

25:59

dog so ultra patriotic

26:01

sort of connection that

26:03

they like to make to

26:09

make these maneuvers seem

26:12

intentional in a way that they're not and more

26:14

sinister than they are. Right, And

26:16

this obviously harkens back to you know,

26:19

Colin Kaepernick's kneeling, which

26:21

he was protesting police brutality

26:23

and injustice around the country, and

26:25

then people connected it with the troops. You know, the flag

26:28

represents everybody,

26:31

everybody, including police, including

26:33

troops, including citizens, and

26:35

indeed it is the representation of the

26:37

nation. So for this man to single

26:39

out the troops as

26:42

though somehow this is disrespectful

26:44

to the troops is insulting

26:47

and it shows the willful

26:50

ignorance and the mental gymnastics

26:52

that people will do, will go through

26:55

to highlight black

26:58

people affirming anything, even

27:01

when they aren't necessarily affirming

27:03

anything, even when it's just, hey, this is how we

27:05

do it over here, and this is how they do it in this stadium

27:07

we didn't know. Okay, now

27:10

I'll take it a step further. For

27:12

people that feel like you're

27:15

disrespecting the flag, so you're disrespecting

27:17

the United States of America, I implore

27:20

all of those people to look

27:22

at the United States Flag Code. Now, this

27:24

is something that I did when

27:27

I was in the fourth

27:29

grade, maybe so

27:31

I know that every single

27:33

time there is a flag waving from

27:36

a car, if it's not embroidered

27:39

at the end with tassels, that

27:41

violates the United States Flag Code.

27:44

That's why the presidential limousine is

27:46

embroidered with tassels on the end.

27:48

Okay, I know that when

27:50

you wear the flag as

27:53

clothing that violates United

27:56

States Flag Code. That is disrespecting

27:58

the flag. When you

28:01

kneel at a

28:03

national anthem where the flag is being

28:05

raised, that is not violating

28:08

the United States Flag Code, and as

28:10

a result, it only violates

28:13

your individual sensibilities.

28:15

If you want to talk about disrespecting the flag,

28:18

you got to sweep through the whole MAGA

28:20

movement before you come knock on my door.

28:24

All right, man, that is good job

28:26

rule. That's good man.

28:29

All right, enough about that before

28:31

we go, I want to take a moment, as promised,

28:33

to congratulate you Esther on your twenty twenty four

28:36

Gracie award. Tell our listeners more

28:38

about this amazing honor.

28:40

Well, thank you. Yeah, it was

28:43

a shock and a pleasant

28:45

surprise to get that email saying

28:47

that I won for a Gracie

28:49

Award for my

28:51

news feature called Black, Autistic

28:54

and Safe. It was a four

28:56

part series which talked to where

28:58

I talked to parents about their concerns

29:00

about police encounters with

29:03

their children, their teens, their

29:05

young adults who are on the spectrum, even

29:08

themselves, because I talked to a number

29:10

of adults who were on the spectrum,

29:12

just how they

29:14

feel that there needs to be some changes and

29:16

how police engage

29:19

with the public. Especially those who

29:21

are on the spectrum.

29:22

So I'm really.

29:23

Happy that they chose

29:25

it as an award winner

29:29

and that hopefully it brings more awareness

29:32

to the situation. You know, we talked about

29:34

this a little bit earlier in terms of children

29:38

being approached by

29:40

police in a very violent way. This

29:42

is something that many black and brown

29:44

parents who have kids on the autism spectrum

29:46

really worry about every single

29:49

day.

29:50

Sure, sure, and you

29:52

know obviously we've talked about that on the show

29:54

before, but you know, to see how

29:57

far it's gone, you know, I

29:59

know when you want to award, I feel like I

30:01

won too. I was over here like, yeah, that's right, we all

30:03

up, all of us, we all up. You

30:05

know what I mean. I know that that is shared throughout

30:09

the Black Information Network, so we wanted

30:11

to take a moment to highlight that. I know Chris was

30:13

excited. Doug obviously was excited too. So

30:15

congratulations to you and keep

30:17

going. I think that's just

30:20

amazing. So yes, again,

30:22

I'd like to thank you both for your time as always and your

30:24

insight and letting me have

30:27

a soapbox every so often to stand

30:29

on and yell at the clouds like the old

30:31

man that I am, but yeah,

30:33

I can't wait until we do it again once again. Today's

30:36

guests are Doug Davis

30:38

and Esther Dillard. This

30:41

has been a production of the Black Information Network.

30:43

Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have

30:46

some thoughts you'd like to share, use the red microphone

30:48

talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While

30:51

you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all

30:53

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30:55

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30:57

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