0:00

Black women are one of the strongest

0:02

voting blocks in the United States. We

0:05

know statistically more than two thirds of Black

0:07

women turned out to vote in the twenty twenty presidential

0:10

election, the third highest rate of any

0:12

race gender group. The National

0:14

Council of Negro Women seeks to be the

0:16

convener of our collective agency to

0:18

make sure the power of the vote is utilized not

0:21

only to elect Black women to office, but

0:23

also cast votes for those against anti

0:25

racism work and policy outreach. While

0:28

a part of the legacy eight civil rights organizations

0:31

for eighty eight years, NCNW has

0:33

been in the fight for civil rights, often

0:35

with the only woman at the table being the late doctor

0:38

Dorothy Hyde. In its eighty

0:40

eight year the NCNW has

0:42

changed the structure of the organization as

0:44

well as added a new paid position president

0:47

and CEO to meet the needs of the twenty

0:49

first century. The most significant

0:52

change is that the new president in CEO, chavn

0:54

our Line Bradley, is for the first time

0:57

under the age of fifty at forty five. In

1:00

addition, Chavon is dedicated to supporting

1:02

DEI, especially in a time when

1:04

the term DEI is being weaponized

1:06

against Black women, and she is

1:08

our guest today. This

1:11

is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast

1:13

and I am your host, ramses Jah.

1:16

All right, chavon our line, Bradley,

1:19

welcome to the show. It has been a long

1:21

time coming. I've had you on our calendar,

1:23

and of course I know all too well about

1:26

the National Council of Negro Women.

1:29

It is an honor to have you here today. Absolutely

1:33

the pleasure is mine. And

1:37

you know, just a quick story before we get started.

1:40

I have a dear friend. She

1:43

is a mentor. In fact, we

1:45

just honored her last week,

1:47

it is a matter of days ago, and

1:50

she is a member of the National Council of Negro

1:52

Women. And I've known her since

1:55

my first year of college and she stepped

1:57

in and became my mentor. Her name is doctor Kamila

1:59

Westsberg. She's been on the show a number of times and

2:03

she always speaks about this organization. So

2:05

when she finds out that I finally have this conversation,

2:08

she'll be up in arms. And our listeners know her all

2:10

all too well. So I just wanted you to really

2:12

sincerely know that this is an honor to be able to talk to

2:14

you. So what we do around here is

2:17

we start our stories at the beginning.

2:20

And of course I've given a little bit of background

2:22

on you. I've tried to, but

2:25

we have to ask you to tell us a

2:27

little bit about your background, a little

2:30

bit about your upbringing and sort of what led

2:32

you to the position that you hold today.

2:35

Yeah, first of all, thank you. It's

2:37

an honor to sit with you and sit with

2:39

your listeners, and thank you for being a voice sister,

2:43

A breath of fresh air. To be able to have space

2:46

for our content and our context and

2:48

asking the personal story is really helpful for me. I'm

2:50

a church girl, want to raise

2:53

in Camden, New Jersey, and

2:55

father was a principal, go figure out.

2:57

I was in school my day who was a principal,

2:59

and my

3:02

mom was in corporate America. And I think one of the things that

3:04

people really know about my story is that it

3:06

really went from athletics

3:08

to activism. I was a collegiate

3:10

athlete, was a

3:13

great student, went to Tulane University, got

3:15

a full scholarship there, and then got injured. And

3:18

what I tell people all the time is my context

3:20

is around athletics, has always been. Athletics

3:22

was a part of the journey towards me

3:24

to get to my destiny and so

3:27

full scholarship. Change is when

3:29

you can't run anymore, when you can't participate.

3:32

But I had the opportunity. I had a great coach

3:34

who believed in us getting our education, finished

3:37

school and got into public health. Health is my

3:39

background. Public health is my real

3:41

passion place. And really

3:43

learned a lot about healthcare when I was

3:45

in New Orleans, Louisiana. So I went from Jersey

3:47

to Louisiana in the nineties

3:50

when David Duke, who was a klansman, was running

3:52

for governor. So that really starts

3:54

to set the tone for things that I

3:56

began to fight for. I was a young activist

3:58

fully early in life, because I have family

4:00

members who were young democrats. My

4:02

godfather, who bad God rest his soul, pushed

4:05

me. He asked my parents, I'll never

4:07

forget it. At age nine, let

4:10

me let her see em Mattil's

4:12

story. That did it for me.

4:15

So all the way through college, I was always

4:17

clear on activism. I'm a member of delt Sigma Data,

4:20

so constantly pushing on activism.

4:23

Then my trajectory really switched. I

4:25

went from public health into

4:29

deep civil rights work. I

4:32

had the honor of serving as

4:34

chief of staff and let health

4:36

care for the National NAACP. And

4:38

that was during the time when the affordable

4:41

care just got started. So I

4:43

was there in that fight. I got

4:45

the most death threats during

4:47

that time in my career, but I

4:49

figured out that race trumps

4:52

everything, right, so health

4:54

care, education, all the things that we

4:56

fight and believed in. That was

4:58

the time for me where I had a chance to be there for the signing

5:01

of a piece of legislation, but

5:03

then come home to papers

5:05

from the NACP of folks saying we're gonna kill

5:07

your family. We're gonna kill you about

5:10

healthcare, right, So you just see the disconnect

5:13

with our country psyche. But

5:15

that's what really helped me to

5:18

really engage in this idea of activism.

5:20

Then I went to become an Obama alum. I

5:22

served a certain General of the United

5:24

States, was there advising him

5:26

during the time of the unfortunate massacre

5:29

in Charleston at the church, so we

5:31

were there doing a lot of public house space. But

5:34

then fast forward to become my

5:36

own entrepreneurial. I

5:38

have my own firm, my own business, and

5:40

getting a phone call to help them find the next

5:42

CEO of n CNW and I'm friendly.

5:45

Let me tell you something. I was trying to find her. I

5:47

mean I was looking for her for them, and

5:49

I was sending names who were like, oh, these are great

5:51

people. And then I

5:54

made a joke and I said, you

5:56

know, in another life, I would have done this, And she said,

5:59

what did you say? Lesus

6:01

Herman said what she

6:03

said? In the rest of history, I'm now

6:06

the first president CEO under

6:08

the age of fifty in working

6:10

with doctor Lois Keith and having

6:13

what I believe is the time of my life, the

6:16

most I've I've never been as happy in my

6:18

work before because I'm doing what I believe I'm

6:20

a called to do.

6:21

Yeah, I love that.

6:23

I think that part of that I got a

6:25

little bit of that I got to read prior

6:28

to our conversation today. But I love

6:30

the fact that now

6:32

we have a lot more in the way of details. I feel like

6:34

I have a I

6:37

don't even want to call it a similar story, but

6:39

similar parts in that you

6:41

know, my background was

6:43

in radio and

6:45

broadcast and a DJ, and

6:49

in twenty twenty I was inspired to

6:52

transition into activism

6:54

and I looking back on my

6:56

life, I realized that I kind of always had

6:58

a little bit of it in me mentioned you know, your

7:01

your father holding such a

7:03

strong position in the community, well as I

7:05

mentioned my mentor in college,

7:08

doctor Kimilla Westenberg. She another

7:12

brief story, but I just I feel like it's so important

7:14

to respond to these callings, and you

7:17

know, as often as I can, I like to share the story.

7:19

But she found me on campus

7:22

way back in the day. It sort of been two

7:25

thousand and one, maybe two

7:27

thousand somewhere in there. And when

7:31

she found me on campus, she says, young man,

7:33

you know, I don't know who you are. And

7:36

I says, I'm Ramses

7:38

and she says, did you check the box of

7:41

African American when you enrolled in this school?

7:45

And at the time, I felt like that would

7:47

put a target on my back. I didn't know what

7:49

it was for. I was didn't want toybody in my business. I

7:51

was like, let me wow, profile, that's what

7:53

I thought. I you know, I didn't have the context.

7:55

And she says, shame on you, because

7:58

if you had checked that box, I wouldn't know who you are. And

8:01

I really needed at the time. I'll

8:03

bury the rest of that story, but I did need that, and so

8:06

she says, young man, I want you to attend

8:08

the Black Student Union meetings, and I said, yes,

8:10

ma'am's at older than me, you know.

8:12

And then when I came to

8:14

the to the BSU meetings after

8:18

some months, it was suggested

8:20

that I run for president. So I became president

8:23

of the Black Student Union and later got

8:25

into radio and broadcasting in djaying, and

8:27

then twenty twenty hit and then I'm like, okay, it's

8:30

probably time for me to do a little bit more. And

8:32

you know, the rest is history. So I love the fact that

8:34

you know, you think your life is well they say man

8:37

plans and God laughs or something like that. So

8:39

yeah, yeah, So anyway, I

8:42

love your story, and I sincerely mean that it

8:44

feels like validation for my

8:47

own story because you know, you holding such a

8:49

prominent position and doing great

8:52

work that has a ripple effect throughout

8:54

the entirety of the country is beyond

8:57

significance. So I salute you, and I commend

8:59

you, and I appreciate the validation. Now

9:02

I want to talk about that position. Yeah,

9:05

and you know, we understand that institutions

9:08

like yours are now now they're

9:10

more important than ever. So

9:13

before we get into the nuts and bolts of that part, of

9:15

the conversation. Take a moment

9:17

and discuss a bit about the

9:20

regression of what

9:23

you would call progress in recent

9:26

years. I'm talking, you know, DEI as we mentioned,

9:28

you know, book banning attacks on CRT

9:31

or what we call American history,

9:34

we call it what it is, and

9:36

you know things like that. So talk about a bit about

9:38

the regression, if indeed you

9:40

feel that.

9:42

It is. It is that now longer I feel

9:45

it. I'm a product

9:47

of a lot of it, right, I am on

9:49

the receiving of some of those backlashes.

9:52

So this conversation around regression

9:54

has really been deep. Two

9:57

things that I think I want to say about this. I

9:59

think as we look

10:01

at the gains that were made in civil

10:04

rights, they were all

10:06

gains, gains that were really

10:10

created by advocacy and activism

10:13

on the ground. And as

10:15

we think about I'm going through the civil

10:17

rights right ground by board. We're

10:20

looking at voting rights, We're

10:22

looking at Title nine right for women's

10:24

rights, We're looking at Roe v. Wade.

10:27

So this is no over like ten fifteen years

10:29

span a massive amount of

10:31

civil rights gains. What even twenty

10:34

years, I can even say what

10:36

I have found in the work that we're doing

10:38

now on these work that we're seeing now is that

10:42

many who have an agenda that's

10:44

concerted to lean towards a

10:46

group of people not losing power

10:50

have really begun to weigh in

10:52

on what they've been doing for decades, and that is strategizing

10:55

on how to repeal progress.

10:57

I mean, I'm being honest, it

11:00

was. It was an intentional and

11:02

quite frankly effective way to

11:05

utilize backdoor strategy to

11:08

begin to change the way that these

11:10

games have moved for communities. Now here's

11:12

the problem organizations

11:15

like mine, the other levels, like I say, said rights

11:17

organizations, we have been so entrenched

11:19

in the gains and sustaining gains that

11:22

we missed the ground game that was happening under

11:24

us. And these underbellies

11:27

have become so much more pronounced

11:31

because of what I call Trump

11:34

rhetoric. Trump rhetoric and

11:36

trump rhetoric, in my mind, has

11:38

been the ability to say, pull the brand

11:40

aid off, say what you want to say because

11:42

there's no repercussions for you saying it. Because

11:45

it was a day that we

11:48

would have never heard things come out of people's

11:50

mouths and they would be able to

11:53

live an other day right in their spaces

11:55

I'm talking. I'm beyond canceling. I'm talking

11:57

about what was deemed decorum,

11:59

what was appropriate and inappropriate.

12:02

So if you look at where we are now,

12:04

I'm a black woman, so this is really deep for me. I'm a mother,

12:07

I'm someone who's had miscarriages, who

12:09

have seen how that Supreme

12:11

Court ruling has changed the way we do health

12:13

care across this country. And I'm

12:16

saying to you that the regressions

12:18

are not only intentional, they

12:20

are lasting because long

12:23

term strategy has put people in office

12:25

for ten, fifteen, twenty years,

12:28

Supreme courts for lifetimes, and

12:30

all this is based on what our

12:32

inability to be active when we

12:34

were supposed to be active and proactive

12:36

when we're supposed to be proactive. So we lost

12:39

some right seats, we lost gains

12:41

and voting rights. We saw them gut voting

12:43

rights. We fought it, but we fought

12:45

it too late. And now the momentum

12:47

is so intense. State

12:49

legislatures are now completely I majorities

12:52

where people are voting to push these things back

12:55

and keep them back, and we're losing

12:57

that fight as far as I'm concerned.

13:00

So I want to I want to go

13:02

with that for a little bit to the other half.

13:04

So you're talking about

13:07

strategy, you're talking about sort of how we got

13:09

here, and

13:12

I know that it goes back a lot further than this. You

13:14

know, there are different veins that go deeper. But really

13:17

what I've seen is that what

13:20

we're seeing is the results of the twenty sixteen

13:23

election, the ripple effect of the results

13:26

of that election throughout the country via you

13:28

know, as you mentioned Supreme Court decisions, the

13:31

rise of trump Ism and

13:33

the MAGA movement, and you know this this capacity

13:36

to say what it is

13:38

that you feel, say say

13:41

the quiet part out loud, say the racist part

13:43

out loud, and know that there's going

13:45

to be a base of supporters who

13:47

are now rallied and

13:50

gallvany exactly

13:53

exactly. So talk to us about

13:56

the redoubling of the ncnw's

13:59

efforts to ensure black women's

14:02

voices are heard through the vote,

14:04

because I do recognize

14:06

that in a democracy. You

14:09

know, I come from an activist kind

14:11

of tradition, recent tradition,

14:13

but a tradition nonetheless, But voting

14:15

is still the way that everyone engages

14:18

in a democracy, and this is how we

14:20

kind of shape a democracy. So talk to us again about

14:23

the efforts, the nw's

14:26

efforts to ensure black women's

14:28

voices are heard.

14:30

So it's voting in voice. I want to do

14:32

both. Okay, so voting. We've

14:34

actually coined right now an eight state strategy.

14:38

The a state strategy is centered around those

14:40

precincts and those states that

14:43

have a high concentration of African Americans

14:46

and that have a clear

14:49

sense of what we call low propensity voting

14:52

progress of voting practice.

14:54

Low propensity voters are voters that

14:57

sometimes voting in elections that sometimes don't.

15:00

And if we can begin to hone and I'll tell

15:02

you the states is Georgia, Florida. Right

15:04

is Virginia, is North Carolina,

15:06

South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania.

15:08

Michigania states.

15:11

Right, these are

15:13

our states where we see concentrated

15:16

some urban, some suburbans, some rural spaces

15:19

where black people reside. Our

15:22

goal inside of NCNW is to

15:24

actually go deep into specific

15:26

precincts to do the old school

15:29

organizing. Right now, we've

15:31

targeted seventeen and eighteen year olds. Is our priority

15:33

ramses and I want to be very clear on this. We've

15:36

asked our sections, which are chapters,

15:38

and our partners. We have thirty six national

15:41

affiliated organizations to NCOW plus

15:44

three hundred and fifty chapters. We're

15:47

bringing that network together to say, listen, divine

15:49

nine faith leaders, business women,

15:51

section leaders. We've got

15:53

to coalesce and get into these

15:56

high schools across the country.

15:58

Why seventeen year roles who

16:01

are seniors that will turn eighteen

16:03

in time for the elections and I've

16:05

got college freshmen. Why are you doing

16:07

this because you saw it was a five percent dip

16:09

in the twenty twenty two election. If

16:11

I can get that five percent back of

16:14

young Black engagment, I'm changing the electric

16:16

I'm switching how we move. That's

16:19

first. But I said voice too. Let me tell you what I mean

16:21

by voice. We

16:23

have seen a resurgence

16:26

of black women's interests in running

16:28

for office in a way that is

16:31

taking off. And

16:33

when I tell you, now, look,

16:36

I don't make the massive assumption that every black person

16:38

is in alignment. We're not a monolith. No, every

16:41

black person is not always agreed. But

16:43

I believe we have black perspectives

16:46

in political seats. It

16:48

is a different perspective that allows them to govern

16:51

in a way that considers the people

16:53

first. My goal

16:56

is to ensure that we have black women

16:58

running from the school board

17:01

all the way up to federal office.

17:03

And it is to ensure that our economic,

17:06

our education, are healthcare as

17:09

well as our overall. Engaging

17:11

in social justice activism

17:14

allows us to do the groundswell to get

17:16

people not only out to vote, but

17:18

here's the thing. Get them out to vote and then get them

17:21

engaged after they vote. That's the voice

17:23

part. Run for office, but don't

17:25

let the legislators off the hook

17:28

after the vote. So it's a two part

17:30

strategy and

17:32

it's getting

17:34

traction. Let me say one more thing. We're

17:36

doing a massive thing called Purple Days in the districts.

17:39

It's coming up. We're setting folks

17:41

across the country because see, you got four hundred

17:43

and thirty five people running for office in the US

17:46

House of Representatives. We're not

17:48

going to DC. We're going to your district offices.

17:50

We're sending sistems in their

17:52

purple. We call it the Purple Rush. We're

17:54

coming. We're coming because

17:57

they need to see we will vote you out

18:00

if you're not in alignment with the work that we're trying to do. So

18:02

I want to offer that as well.

18:03

Okay, I love that. So here's

18:06

another thing. You kind of touched on it a bit, but

18:08

I want to I want to

18:10

go with it a bit. So it

18:13

talk to us about some of the ways that the

18:15

n c NW is accounting for voter

18:19

suppression initiatives. Ye,

18:21

how because I'd imagine that's got to

18:23

be accounted or in your

18:26

in your strategies.

18:26

So it is, it's in partnership with the NAACP.

18:29

So I'm in an ACP or too, right, I'm gonna

18:31

connect the civil rights persons

18:33

as part of my you know, part of

18:35

my lineage. And so one of the things

18:37

they've been asking our partners

18:40

to do. We're trying to come

18:42

up with a number of three hundred thousand volunteers

18:44

across the country. Why because

18:47

we need that many people to be

18:50

on the alert on

18:52

election day, and not

18:55

just the lawyers. Right, there's a lawyer's side of it for lawyers

18:57

that are able to kind of help with response, with

18:59

rap response, but it's also the poleworker

19:02

requests and the actual

19:05

election protection watchers. Poleworkers

19:08

are the folks that can sign up in their

19:10

counties, get in the precinct, be there

19:12

to see that there's a discrepancy here while I saw something here,

19:14

and those of course bipartisans, so it doesn't matter

19:16

what political party you're in. But the other

19:19

side of it is too, the one

19:21

A sixty six my vote work right,

19:24

making sure that we make a phone call if

19:26

we see someone being deterred,

19:28

if we see someone getting the wrong information. Our

19:31

job as NCNW is to make sure we send

19:33

people to the right precincts. So we're

19:35

gonna stay in contact aground the

19:37

country to watch and track

19:40

State of Georgia. The big one forth rams is because

19:44

that state said you can't even have

19:46

water within certain amount

19:48

of feet of a precinct, which

19:50

they call they call it

19:52

one thing. We call it what it is, which is voter oppression. It'suppression,

19:55

practical plans to get people, not the vote. We're

19:57

gonna have the water right the mark because we need to

20:00

make sure our seniors. Okay, we didn't

20:02

make sure all folks can actually vote.

20:03

There's there's something else too, you know, Georgia,

20:06

That's what I mentioned earlier. I didn't mean to cut you off,

20:08

but I was like, you had me at

20:11

Georgia and Florida. You know, you mentioned

20:13

the eight states. I was like, you had me at the first two,

20:15

right, But yeah, I'm aware.

20:17

I'm aware that you

20:19

know, Georgia was the birthplace

20:22

of the souls for the Pole Souls to the Polls

20:24

movement, I believe that's what it's called. And

20:27

so then they closed the polling places on Sundays

20:30

something like that, because you know, the

20:32

the idea was that after church, you

20:35

know, these black women would organize

20:37

and then yeah, yeah, exactly,

20:39

and so so I applaud

20:42

that. I think that that's fantastic. And again I've

20:44

I've had a lot of insight into this, the

20:48

these strategies, and

20:50

it feels it's

20:53

interesting to know how

20:55

deep the fear

20:58

for black voices and black people goes,

21:02

and how deep the racism goes. You know,

21:04

I grew up on the West Coast. I'm from Compton, California

21:07

to Arizona, and so you

21:11

know, we oftentimes

21:13

have to stand with our Hispanic brothers and sisters,

21:15

and we're kind of grouped together because there's not a lot of us out

21:17

here, whereas in the South there are these huge

21:20

groups of black people and there's really pronounced black

21:22

culture, and you

21:24

know, you think that in the South there's these isolated

21:26

pockets of racism, and of course there's police

21:28

officers and a judge here and there. No,

21:31

it's like these people are very organized

21:33

and it's

21:35

disheartening. But I think that the silver

21:37

lining is that, you know, we get to see that there

21:40

are organizations like this that are aware

21:42

of this and be doing something

21:44

about it. And you being at the head of

21:46

such an organization is

21:49

very comforting. And so again, I'm very appreciative

21:51

of your time today.

21:52

I appreciate you. And let

21:55

me just say this, And it's not us alone,

21:57

right, it is. The beauty

22:00

of black culture is that we're

22:02

familiar people, right the

22:05

difficult spaces that even being familial

22:09

sometimes you know, things getting away

22:11

of your progress. And I've

22:14

been blessed to be able to talk to multiple

22:16

generations, like I'm watching it. I'm watching

22:19

the you know, I'm a gen xer, right, so

22:21

I was born in the seventies,

22:23

raised the eighties, college in the nineties. Boom.

22:26

I'm a hip hop girl. So I'm

22:28

able to speak old school church because my parents

22:30

are baby boomers. And I'm also able to

22:32

you know, hit the millennials and hit the gen

22:34

zs in a way that makes sense. And

22:37

guess what, I've been trying to push

22:39

this narrative. Young people are

22:42

engaged rams just like I don't. There's

22:44

this massive thought that they don't there have apathy

22:46

with them. Ah know, they're just mad

22:49

at what they see. They're not pleased

22:51

with how things they've been moving. And

22:54

I think that what you and I even represent even

22:56

this conversation is, Look, we've

22:58

got to bring our generations together. We got our institutions

23:01

together, and there's a lot of you

23:03

know, a lot of criticism of black institutions,

23:06

and I think in some cases rightfully so we've not always

23:08

been able to do things together. But I think

23:10

sometimes brother and sisters on the ground do not

23:12

understand the massive amount

23:15

of requests and

23:17

challenges that are out here, and we have to start learning

23:19

how to Okay, where do we lean in? I knew for

23:21

us we had to lean in and get to

23:23

where the voters were. I knew for us we

23:26

had to deal with this di issue, which I hope we're gonna

23:28

talk about, because Black women are

23:30

on the receiving end of being sacrificial lamps

23:32

of a movement that was made up and

23:34

coerced right, So it's

23:37

a lot of moving parts. My

23:40

joy is when I see us come

23:42

together and align. We're not gonna always be on

23:44

the same page. You know, there's

23:47

gonna be conservative views, they're gonna be progressive views, it's

23:49

gonna be moderate views. I'm kind of in between both.

23:52

And at the end of the day, we've got to get

23:54

to a point where black liberation become

23:56

the ultimate angle. Now, the methods

23:59

that we take might not be the same, but let's

24:01

not lose sight of what is the angle. What does

24:03

freedom look like for us? And

24:06

it wasn't just getting Barack Obama elected, Like,

24:08

that's not freedom, right, Freedom

24:10

is a system where I wake up or race does not even

24:12

matter. Freedom is a place where I live in a

24:14

country that my son, my ten year old son,

24:17

will not be profiled because of his cute

24:19

chocolate skin. Right, they see him as

24:21

a part of their fabric. And for

24:23

me, I'm not free yet, and until then,

24:26

I want to keep fighting.

24:29

We are here today with Javon our

24:31

Line Bradley, President and CEO

24:34

of the National Council of Negro Women.

24:39

Okay, so earlier you mentioned

24:41

that you wanted to kind

24:43

of get into the nuts and bolts of DEI

24:47

and the attacks on DEI, and

24:51

you know what we can do about that? I

24:53

personally am am a am

24:55

a fan of DEI initiatives and

24:57

companies that take it upon themselves. You

25:02

intentionally create

25:06

spaces, conversations, positions,

25:11

and a culture that pays

25:14

attention to diversity, pays

25:16

attention to equity, which is different

25:19

from equality. It is different

25:21

and inclusion. The

25:23

idea that people not only have

25:26

these spaces and conversations delineated

25:29

for them, but they feel welcome and

25:31

they feel centered when they

25:34

choose to speak. And I

25:36

know that you have more to contribute to this, so

25:38

please share with us your thoughts

25:40

on d I, n indeed the organizations.

25:42

Yeah, so I think one of the things, I'm

25:45

a DEI trained professionals,

25:47

so I've done it from the healthcare you standpoint,

25:50

coming to n C and W. Since

25:52

I've been here about a little over a year now, we

25:55

have seen more attacks on d e I d

25:57

e I. You know, staff

26:00

members in personnel and corporations and

26:02

nonprofits that are literally slashing

26:04

their budget's posts. The affirmative

26:07

action ruling on two

26:09

universities. Let me just clear the air here. The

26:12

affirmative action rulings were not

26:14

for every universities, the University of Carolina and

26:16

Harvard University. So all of

26:18

a sudden general counsels across

26:20

the because you have started pulling programs telling

26:22

whats it going to be sued and in some case

26:24

they have been. I'm so proud of NCNW.

26:27

We took on supporting

26:29

the Fearless Fund, which assistants who've done

26:31

venture capital work to put money into black

26:34

women's businesses. Donald

26:36

Emericus brief absolutely and they were sued

26:38

by the same folks that were actually

26:40

suing these universities around THEI

26:43

so I want you to see it right, coordinated

26:45

efforts n CNW, who had to take two stances,

26:47

one legal, right, how do we make

26:49

sure our voice is supporting the impacted

26:52

side of organizations

26:54

like the Fearless Fund. But the other thing for

26:57

us is how do we help

26:59

put out there to the public that

27:02

Black women are the ones that are actually

27:05

suffering the most. I call us sacrificial

27:07

lambs because in many cases, black

27:10

women have been tasked with advancing

27:12

equity across the country. Now, the deed to

27:14

eating the eye is the real thing we got to talk about. People

27:18

in many cases don't mind the eye

27:21

eyes inclusion because

27:23

inclusion means something bigger

27:25

for people. Right, They're like, oh, you know, we

27:28

want to get your input right.

27:32

We're a company or an organization that wants

27:34

to hear from everyone, but see diversity,

27:37

equity and inclusion. Will he stands for diverse

27:39

perspective, the verse backgrounds, the

27:42

verse abilities, right, because we don't talk

27:44

about it all race, gender, identity,

27:47

religion, ability

27:49

right. First, persons that are living with disabilities are not

27:52

that's diversity, right though, who's represented

27:55

the eyes including them in the

27:57

ability to make decisions in those spaces?

28:00

And then the equity is the part

28:02

that's the real all because equity says

28:04

I got to remove a barrier for optimal experience.

28:07

Now, wait a minute, what if I like my experience.

28:10

If it's not optal for you, it's opera for me, that's

28:12

a challenge with people that are in power.

28:14

Yeah.

28:14

Right, So that's

28:16

why I fool with equity because equity

28:19

does systems work. It does barrier

28:21

removal work. But that's the

28:23

hard work, and that's the work that forces

28:26

us to look at all of our systems. Corporate,

28:30

whatever sector it is, doesn't matter how

28:32

you serve, how you support, how you provide

28:35

for a community. If I'm removing

28:38

barriers, that means I'm actually touching what the system

28:40

has created to make sure that

28:42

it is. I have the ability to create

28:44

optimal experience in healthcare, we say

28:46

optimal experience for quality of life. What

28:49

if quality of life for me is I woke up

28:52

in a place where I can actually find

28:54

fruits in vestments. That's my quality

28:56

of life. It's just different for everyone, and

28:58

so I've had to really help people underst Then

29:00

the D E and the I going together is

29:02

what makes this a movement. The

29:04

problem is has been co opted. You

29:07

hear DI, you automatically think, oh, white

29:09

people are beinging left out. See

29:11

that's not me, when in actuality, if

29:14

they would understand the actual premise, DI

29:17

is as American as.

29:17

Apple pie, m talk to them.

29:20

I mean, let's just have the conversation. You

29:22

came to a country to seek

29:25

solace, right to create space where

29:27

they said all men are creating equal on paper,

29:30

and yet instill the opportunity

29:33

for access, for removing barriers

29:36

so that you can have the ability to

29:38

pick up your bootstraps and go do what you need to do

29:40

to get away from your country's communism,

29:42

your your country's challenges. And

29:45

now DI is the problem. No, DI is

29:47

not the problem. The people are the problem. The people that

29:49

are in power that want to sustain power

29:52

and keep it are the problem. And

29:54

I say, I say the answer to it

29:57

is thus collectively defining it in the

29:59

way people understand. There's

30:01

a study that was done years ago, and

30:04

I do this because it helps people understand the

30:06

idea of how equity really makes a difference.

30:08

There was a study of young people in New

30:11

York City, partly in Brooklyn,

30:13

a couple of other boros queens, and they

30:15

assessed healthy fruits and vegetables.

30:18

And there was a test that was taken for young people and they said

30:20

what color are bananas? The

30:23

kids said brown? Right,

30:25

bananas a brown. And

30:27

for the average person who

30:30

says, how can they think that

30:33

bananas are brown? Everybody knows bananas

30:35

yellow. Then you got to dig deeper into that and

30:37

said, well, what's the system saying, well, well,

30:39

those bananas that go to their neighborhoods come later,

30:42

they get dropped off in other neighborhoods. First, the fresher

30:44

produce is sent to places where trucks

30:47

can be dropped off first. And then so

30:49

how can we say those kids are not okay?

30:51

Well, they answered the question correctly because in their

30:54

neighborhood bananas a brown right,

30:57

and so what is equity say. Equity said, we got to remove

30:59

the barriers out. How do we get more trucks

31:01

to every area on time to the produces

31:04

fresh with that barrier

31:06

so that now the children have quality of produce.

31:09

Same concept. What is in

31:11

the way of us having quality

31:13

of life, being in an American culture, having

31:16

the right to book, having the ability to have an education

31:18

like everyone else, making sure the resources

31:21

are the same in every zip code

31:23

and every not solely about tax code.

31:25

Right. So that's why DI is so big

31:28

for me. And look shout out to those

31:30

that have really been struggling. I'm looking at

31:32

it. The Clauding gay situation really blew my

31:34

mind right because those are those

31:36

are the experiences that we're talking about when we're on

31:39

the wrong end of the stick.

31:43

That was that was powerful,

31:46

and I'm glad that that we

31:48

went in this direction so that you could share that that's

31:51

particularly meaningful to someone like

31:53

me. I

31:55

know that we don't have much more

31:57

in the way of time together, but you

32:01

seem like such a prolific

32:04

speaker, and you're in such an awesome

32:06

position. I feel

32:08

compelled to at least ask you know. I

32:10

know that you know your role

32:13

as a minister has influenced

32:16

your leadership. I know that

32:18

you have just so much valuable

32:21

perspective. I want to

32:23

ask, what is one

32:26

piece of political advice, if you

32:28

had to just pick one, that you could

32:31

give to our listeners.

32:32

Today, That

32:34

you, as a citizen of

32:36

the United States, are political. Every day

32:40

Everything you do affects politics.

32:43

When you go to the grocery store and you see your tax

32:45

bill, what are little taxes in your grocery bill. When

32:48

you take your kids to school, there's

32:50

some politics happening around the funding

32:52

that's going to your school. Every day you wake

32:55

up in this country, you have to be politically minded.

32:57

And if you are a listener that understands

33:00

what it means to have this hue of skin in

33:03

this country, you have to

33:05

take that as a

33:07

part of your obligatory stance to ensure

33:09

that the future will be brighter for

33:11

our children. I'm telling

33:15

you I'm moved by my child because

33:17

I've seen even

33:20

his little psyche gets

33:22

changed when people make assessments and assumptions about

33:24

him. Right, So my thing

33:27

is show up every day understanding

33:29

that politics matters. So when I go

33:31

to his school and my husband and I go to that school.

33:34

I know I'm pushing politics. I had to

33:36

fight for him to get into a class because

33:38

of a standardized test. You know what

33:40

the politics were. We don't have enough splots

33:43

and we don't have enough money. So my job

33:45

was be the politician in the room and

33:48

fight for it. And I'm saying to the listeners,

33:51

you have the power. I'm telling you

33:53

the one thing you do is going to change the game

33:56

for your people. So I know now

33:58

there's other parents that are gonna know what to do because I have blooprint.

34:00

I knew how to fight, and I want

34:03

to tell Black people, and specifically,

34:06

we come from a fighting lineage.

34:09

We've never just let stuff happen to us,

34:12

right, and when we do, and when we have, we've

34:15

lost. And I could

34:17

just that's my takeaway. Be political

34:20

and be well with it, and don't fall in the

34:22

trap of I have to be nonpartisan.

34:25

Being nonpartisan doesn't mean you're not politically

34:27

minded. That's why I tell Faithful

34:29

this all the time. Yeah, you let

34:31

them come in, be four years and say what they want to say.

34:34

You know why, because they know

34:36

that your power. You've got to understand you have

34:39

power. You wake up in this country

34:41

you're a black person who has been the

34:43

lineage of civil rights, of Jim Crow, of

34:46

lynching, of slavery. We can

34:48

win. We've won battles like crazy. Nobody

34:51

thought we could be what we are today. Nobody thought that,

34:54

And I'm just offering that encouragement.

34:56

I believe it's God given rights for us to

34:59

be able to look at our self to say, my God,

35:01

we have come from so much, and I

35:04

refuse to be the generation

35:06

that allows this thing to change when I watch. That's

35:08

what I will tell you listeners. Be political, be

35:11

intentional, and it is our obligation.

35:13

It is our job to make sure our

35:15

babies don't feel what our previous

35:18

generations have.

35:19

Yeah. Yeah, we can't let it regress

35:21

too much. We were in a position to fight

35:23

it. We should fight it. I appreciate those words. There's

35:26

a lot of moving pieces in your world. I

35:29

feel like I have to ask

35:31

what's next for you? What's next for the

35:33

organization? What's the next big thing you're

35:35

looking ford?

35:36

Yeah, we shared the policy Summit our national

35:38

convenience this year as well. What

35:41

is also coming, quite frankly, has been

35:43

our expansion. We are opening

35:45

the doors that are brothers, that are now supporting us. We

35:47

have associate members of NCNW that

35:50

have been around for a few years, and so we are

35:52

now building up on that big

35:54

thing coming. We are turning ninety years next year.

35:58

Let's need to say it. Mary

36:00

mcclopp thune was ahead of her time when

36:02

she founded this organization. Man,

36:06

what is it like to be in a depression to

36:08

bring black women together in New York City to say, all

36:10

right, I can get us all on the same page.

36:13

We can make this happen. Well. Ninety

36:15

years ago in December fifth, nineteen thirty

36:18

five, most of the things that are on that list

36:20

are still in our list in twenty twenty four, are about to be twenty

36:22

twenty five. Right, So what's been

36:24

coming up for us is us honoring the legacy

36:26

but then clamping down, hammering

36:28

down on the list of policy

36:30

priorities. We are a Policy and the Program

36:33

Organization RAMSES. So we believe

36:35

in direct service and direct action.

36:38

That's who we are, that's how we play, and

36:40

there's so much more to come. October nineteen

36:42

thirteenth meet us in Baltimore. We gotta

36:44

get you to come too. We need some media to come and hang out

36:47

with us. We want to celebrate

36:49

together and honor some folks, but also do the business

36:51

of NC and W, which is to expand,

36:54

to grow, to build, but

36:56

also to make sure that we're changing the way

36:58

that people live in this country for the vitamin

37:00

of our people.

37:01

That that is fantastic. One

37:04

of the things that that we Chris

37:09

Thompson is the producer of this show, and

37:11

he gives me a long

37:13

leash and on

37:16

this show and my other show. One of the things

37:18

that that I'm able to affirm

37:20

with our listeners as often as as

37:25

often as I can is that we feel

37:27

that being

37:31

being close to black women is the

37:33

same as being close to God. Is as close

37:35

to God as you'll be able to get in this lifetime. And

37:37

so where

37:39

your leadership takes our

37:41

people, you know, we will

37:44

always be supportive. On this program

37:46

and on my other program with my co host

37:48

Qward, I wish he was here to be able to tell

37:50

you that himself, because he's a he's

37:53

a lot more poetic with his words.

37:56

I think you did alright with that.

37:57

When you tell you well, I'll take it.

37:59

I'll take it. So before

38:01

we let you go, I'm

38:03

obviously gonna want to tap in with you, but I know

38:05

our listeners are going to want to do the same. Is there any

38:07

sort of social media website and a

38:09

connective tissue that we can have for

38:12

our folks listening?

38:14

Please do follow us on Facebook,

38:16

x, Instagram, LinkedIn

38:19

at NCNW underscore HQ

38:21

for headquarters, and then of course

38:23

our website is www dot NCNW

38:26

dot org. Please join us, Please

38:28

join us, section Listen.

38:30

We skew in a way

38:32

that has been named to be Season more season

38:35

Women. All but the college students

38:37

and the young women have been blowing us

38:39

up. We've had over twenty fifty girls

38:41

joined the FAMU, over one hundred and fifty girls

38:44

over at Howard University. I'm like, the

38:46

movement is coming, the sisters are coming, and

38:48

I love it. I gotta close with this. We

38:50

are the one table for Black women that no matter

38:53

your background, no matter your geography, no matter

38:55

your education, no matter how much you make, you

38:57

have a seat at this table. This

38:59

council well is the counsel of women that are

39:01

c suite to the streets. And that's how

39:03

we move, that's how we play. And it's

39:06

nothing but beauty when you see

39:08

doesn't matter if it's system so and so, who's

39:11

ninety. I've got folks my board at age ninety

39:13

six down to nineteen, and that's the beauty

39:15

of NCNW. So please join us, please support

39:17

us, and let us know what we can do to make

39:19

sure that we're getting the message out.

39:21

Fantastic. Well, I'd like to thank you very much.

39:23

Thank you for coming on and sharing

39:26

your insights and your background with

39:28

us today your overall

39:30

commitment to the successful,

39:33

informed, inspired future of

39:36

our black community. Once again, Today's

39:38

guest is chavn our Line Bradley,

39:40

the President and CEO of the National

39:43

Council of Negro Women. This

39:47

has been a production of the Black Information Network.

39:49

Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson.

39:52

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

39:54

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39:56

app. While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe

39:58

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40:01

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