0:01

And now part two of our two part conversation

0:04

with Los Angeles City Council President pro

0:06

Tempore Marquis Harris Dawson,

0:08

where we'll be discussing digital equity

0:10

in southern California. This is

0:13

the Black Information Network Daily Podcast

0:15

and I'm your host, ramses Jah.

0:19

All right, let's shift gears here a bit. Let's

0:21

talk about digital

0:23

equity. So share a bit with

0:25

us, because we mentioned this at the beginning of the episode.

0:28

Talk about that a bit and why it's important.

0:30

Digital equity is.

0:31

I'll tell you it's an issue that I hadn't

0:34

spent a whole lot of time thinking about and hearing about.

0:36

Community organizations actually brought this

0:38

to me. Community organizations that work with school

0:40

age children, that work with families, and

0:43

you know, around the time of the pandemic it became

0:47

it came into sharp relief. Their

0:49

big difference is in the way that the

0:51

Internet, which was no one should

0:53

forget. The Internet

0:56

is an invention of the government, so

0:59

all of us have owned ship and a right to it.

1:02

That there were big differences in who gets the Internet

1:04

under what terms and how just

1:08

to put it in terms that everybody understands.

1:11

You know, most cities most

1:13

places in the US, we have one,

1:16

maybe two internet service providers

1:18

that we can choose from right like it

1:20

isn't back in the old in the beginning of the Internet, you

1:22

could get Earthlink or AOL or there

1:24

were like a dozen companies you can get. Right

1:27

now, it's a big carrier,

1:29

maybe AT and T, maybe Verizon

1:31

that you can get internet from. And I'm

1:33

talking about in your house. I'm not talking about mobile and

1:37

so those places have franchises. What

1:39

we found in Los Angeles is people

1:42

in low income communities of color

1:44

pay a higher price for slower

1:47

internet than communities that

1:49

are wealthier and wider, right

1:52

in the same jurisdiction, using the same

1:54

company. And so this is

1:56

managed by the California Public Utilities

1:59

Commission, and essentially

2:01

we're asking them to look into it to make sure

2:04

one that you can't have high

2:06

speed over you know that it runs at one hundred

2:08

over here, but only eighty five over here and only fifty

2:11

five in another neighborhood that

2:13

you know, it's got to run it roughly the same speed for everybody,

2:15

and it's got to be the same price for everybody. Certainly,

2:18

you can't charge people more if there's a price differential.

2:20

It uder a crew in the favor

2:22

of poor people, not against them. Yes,

2:25

and so that really is what digital equity

2:28

is. You know, during the pandemic, we saw

2:30

kids hanging out in McDonald's

2:33

or outside McDonald's because McDonald's

2:35

had you know drive through. Yeah, their

2:37

drive through was still open even during the pandemic,

2:40

so you could sit next to you know, McDonald's

2:42

and use the Wi Fi that way. And we're like, why

2:44

is this happening? And what you found out

2:47

was some neighborhoods you couldn't get

2:49

a high speed internet in your house, or

2:51

if you could, it was prohibitively expensive,

2:54

where again, just a few miles away,

2:56

in a different neighborhood with a

2:58

different environment, you could get it for very very cheap.

3:01

Sure.

3:01

Sure, now you know something interesting.

3:05

I host a radio show as

3:07

well, and my

3:10

co host for Civic Cipher. He

3:13

does a lot of work in Vegas. He

3:15

works with Allegiance Stadium and the Raiders

3:17

and all those folks, and he works

3:21

with their community outreach initiatives.

3:25

And he reported back to me this

3:27

might have been a handful of

3:29

months ago, that there are places

3:32

in Vegas where they

3:34

don't have you know, they

3:36

don't have a grocery store, so they're like food deserts,

3:39

and they don't have all these these resources you would

3:41

think would be in every neighborhood right

3:43

everywhere people can walk reasonably

3:46

walk to get the resources

3:48

they need to live comfortably in the

3:50

United States of America, and

3:53

one of the things that.

3:54

Was missing was internet access.

3:56

So I want to ask, you know,

3:58

with these efforts that you

4:00

have underway in southern

4:02

California, do you think that this is

4:04

something that can be replicated in other cities

4:07

like Vegas or elsewhere in the country.

4:09

Look, everybody's got a different

4:13

governance structure on how you

4:15

you know, how the internet's managed. Is it managed

4:17

by your communications department or your utilities

4:20

department?

4:20

So everybody's got a different system.

4:23

The point is it's all knowable, and it's all

4:25

based on decisions

4:27

made by human beings. And you can

4:29

get human beings to unmake those decisions

4:31

and make them in your favorite just need to find out

4:33

who they are and what they're going to respond to. Some

4:36

of them, you know, respond to information.

4:39

You know, you bring it to their attention and they go, oh my gosh, I had

4:41

no idea this was happening. I'm going to change it tomorrow.

4:44

Other Ones respond to you

4:46

know, support, you know, we really

4:48

support you, but we need you to change this.

4:51

You can change.

4:51

Others respond to pressure and embarrassment

4:55

and disruption of

4:57

whatever is important to them. So you know, if

5:01

the people in Vegas decide,

5:03

we got lock arms and you know, stand

5:05

around the stadium and it ain't gonna be no games until

5:07

you get this internet thing together.

5:08

You I like that.

5:10

That's always that's a way to do it as well.

5:12

Yeah, yeah, that's my kind of people. But you

5:14

know, I know not everybody's like that, but yeah.

5:16

I just always say I always remind people there are a

5:18

number of ways. There's always that one that was a

5:20

fun one and then exciting one and it looks

5:23

good on social media, but that's not the only way.

5:25

Sure, No, that's that's more than fair. I'm I'm

5:28

I'm learning that I am a rare breed. I

5:32

probably needed a little

5:34

bit more self preservation

5:36

instincts because I'm one of those

5:38

that'll get out there real quick and I'm not a physically

5:40

a big person, so I'm out there like mighty mouse,

5:43

you know what I mean. So anyway,

5:47

let's talk a little bit more about the

5:51

your your recent legislative efforts that

5:54

aim to amend a

5:58

local ordinance focusing on preventing

6:00

discrimination in consumer services.

6:03

So we put forward a motion that really

6:05

asked the city to come up with a formal

6:07

policy that makes it illegal

6:10

for there to be price differentiation for

6:13

or service differentiation from neighborhood

6:15

to neighborhood. And so

6:18

we've done that. At the same time,

6:20

some of our partners in the state are carrying

6:22

similar legislation so that you

6:24

know, they can't go on high behind the state law because

6:27

we passed the local law and vice versa.

6:30

And so we're doing that.

6:31

And what it's going to mean is it's going to

6:33

mean some infrastructure changes because

6:35

sometimes it's you know, there might be a piece of equipment

6:37

that, particularly after the pandemic

6:40

where we had the supply chain issue, there

6:42

might be a piece of equipment that I only have

6:44

three of but I really need five. So the question

6:46

is how do I decide where do I put

6:48

the three in which two areas do I leave without

6:51

it? So those types of things, this

6:54

legislation is designed to put

6:56

a magnifying glass on that and then just

6:58

you know, make sure everybody's cars are on the table

7:01

and that we're providing the best service we can. You

7:03

know, one way to say it, say

7:05

it could be I'm going to put the best

7:07

in it, and other countries in the world do this. I'm

7:09

going to put the best internet service in

7:12

the communities that have the most seniors. Why

7:15

because seniors getting

7:17

access to medical care is really really important,

7:19

particularly telehealth, and also seniors

7:22

tend to be involved in the rearing of children

7:25

in a way that everybody else.

7:26

Why everybody else's worked.

7:27

You know, we go hang out at auntie's house or grandma's

7:29

house, or you know, our neighbor's house

7:31

who.

7:31

Is a grandma. So you know,

7:34

you could easily say that's.

7:35

Where we ought to prioritize the best,

7:38

fastest, cheapest internet. Right

7:40

now, what it seems like our companies do is do it to

7:42

the people who can make them the richest. And

7:45

that's not a good way to run a society right

7:48

right. The Black Information Network,

7:50

I think it's caused us really to focus on the equity

7:53

and inclusion piece and not just a diversity

7:55

piece celebrating black history.

7:57

The die is class as I said, We're not.

8:00

We're saying this is the way it's going.

8:01

To be and now making sure that

8:04

yeah, that was a first, but it won't be

8:06

the only time that that's happened.

8:07

We want to make sure that we can continue to do new.

8:09

Things because our story continues.

8:20

We are here today with Los Angeles City

8:22

Council President pro Tempore Marquis

8:25

Harris Dawson. You

8:30

know, there's a lot of I'm

8:33

critical of capitalism, and there's a lot of factors

8:36

that come into play when at the intersection

8:38

of what is good for society and what is good for

8:40

capitalism. And once you get to like APEX,

8:44

you know, peak capitalism, and it becomes unfettered

8:46

capitalism, then you end up with scenarios just like

8:48

that where people are pursuing profits

8:51

at the expense of almost everything else.

8:53

So, but that's

8:55

the economic model that we've decided on. And I

8:57

don't want to be overly critical. It's just I'm I'm

8:59

critical of just about everything.

9:00

So that's just look, it

9:03

works until it doesn't.

9:04

There you go, that's that's a great way to describe it.

9:06

So so let's do

9:08

this.

9:10

These are, of course some fantastic

9:12

efforts that you have going, but you

9:14

know, rarely do we get someone

9:17

who is as brilliant as

9:20

you are, and that coupled

9:22

with the motivation and the actual effectiveness

9:26

that we're seeing through your.

9:28

Work, it's it's a very special moment

9:30

for us here.

9:30

So while we have your access to your

9:33

brain power and this bandwidth, I

9:36

want to ask you just a

9:38

couple of more questions. You answer them however you

9:40

feel is appropriate. But you

9:44

know, recently we

9:47

discussed on this show there

9:50

was a Kentucky lawmaker who

9:54

said that she was talking

9:56

to the NAACP of all folks, and she said

9:58

that her father was a white sl right

10:01

and the implication there was that white

10:05

people go through so

10:08

many things that black people

10:10

go through. It it's not easy for anyone.

10:12

Everybody has to start at the starting line

10:15

and run their race right. And she was

10:17

pushing a back, she was pushing back against

10:20

DEI initiatives

10:22

and affirmative action and these sorts

10:24

of things, again in front of the NAACP,

10:26

which confused all of us around here. But

10:30

I think that that reflects I

10:34

think what a lot of white people really wish

10:36

was true. And if you have certain

10:39

blind spots built into your vantage

10:42

point, or there's

10:45

a degree of wolf wilful ignorance

10:49

at play, then this

10:53

could be your reality. You could indeed find yourself

10:55

in front of the NAACP saying that white people and

10:57

black people have the same I push back

10:59

again this by saying that, yes,

11:02

in theory, everyone does start at the starting

11:04

line and run their race, but black folks

11:07

often we start.

11:09

Behind the starting line.

11:10

And one of the examples I used I remember

11:13

that conversation was, you know,

11:15

we have to deal with the effects

11:17

of to pick a thing, redlining,

11:21

redlining shaped black

11:23

neighborhoods, black wealth, taxation,

11:26

et cetera, home values, it's et cetera.

11:28

And then that filters into the schools and

11:30

what type of books that we have, what type of teachers

11:32

we can get, et cetera. And

11:35

then of course that as we know, shapes outcomes

11:38

educationally. And then around here at least

11:40

we accept that talent

11:45

and intelligence is equally distributed

11:48

among human beings, races, and

11:50

cultures and countries. Opportunity

11:53

is not. And

11:55

so while we're here again,

11:58

I want you to

12:01

discuss maybe some other critical

12:03

issues that you feel are affecting black

12:05

families and communities across the country

12:09

that you feel we should be paying attention to

12:11

moving forward, not just at

12:13

tax on from in action or

12:15

dei, or even if you support

12:18

the removal of them, And far be it for me to state

12:20

another man's brief, But I do recognize

12:22

that there's a lot of conversations

12:25

where either people are speaking

12:28

out of both sides of their mouth, or people

12:30

are not listening to the other side. And again, with a mind

12:32

as brilliant as yours, i'd love to hear your thoughts on

12:34

some of the things we should be paying attention to.

12:37

Well, you know, I think, look, when

12:40

I hear a white person do

12:42

that kind of thing where they try to equalize

12:45

the circumstance, the

12:49

best interpretation, the kindest

12:51

interpretation, the most useful interpretation

12:54

of what they're doing is

12:56

is that they are because of this

12:58

language, because this city is so this

13:00

country is so hegemonically capitalist. People

13:02

don't even understand what class unity

13:04

means. So basically,

13:07

when I when I hear a white person say that something

13:09

like that, what I hear her saying is,

13:12

well, I was broke too, and no one helped me. That's

13:15

what I hear her saying. If you

13:17

guys are getting helped just because you're black, and

13:21

I feel like we should get help too, And guess what

13:23

I agree all broke people should get.

13:25

Help this country.

13:27

This country is the wealthiest country in

13:30

the world.

13:31

No one should be broke, you know,

13:33

having these these piss poor schools

13:35

and you know, can't get around and can't

13:37

get food, and can't get medical care, I mean,

13:39

and housing.

13:40

It's absolute nonsense.

13:42

And no one, whether they're black, they're

13:44

white, they're Latin

13:47

American agent, no one should have that situation

13:49

in this country. But if you want to have class unity,

13:51

you got to drop your racism.

13:54

That's the problem.

13:55

And what people want to do is they want to

13:57

argue for class unity when people

13:59

are calling on them to drop their racism, and

14:02

you can't do both. You can't

14:04

get class unity if you insist on

14:07

being racist, or protecting racism,

14:09

or protecting white supremacy. And that's the struggle

14:11

I think a lot of white people have, particularly

14:14

in the South, you know, where there's a greater incidence

14:16

of you know, white people tend not to be middle

14:18

class, they tend to be not much

14:20

better off than black people. You

14:23

can't ever get class unity because

14:25

they insist on racism. We had a

14:28

measure here where

14:31

it was going to basically provide medical care

14:33

to everybody below a certain income and

14:36

the measure lost, and it lost because

14:38

white people, mostly white

14:40

voters, but some other voters. I will say, this is not something

14:43

that only white people do, but

14:45

mostly white voters who would have qualified

14:47

for the insurance voted

14:50

against it because they didn't want the illegals

14:52

to get it. So

14:56

they're racism deprived

14:59

them of medical care, and they did it

15:01

to themselves like nobody did it to them. They did it

15:03

to themselves. They went to the polls and voted that way.

15:06

And so I think that that's what we have to pay attention

15:08

to it. And also think in the Black community,

15:10

you know, with all of our organizations that struggle

15:12

for justice, I do think that we need to take a harder

15:14

look at class within our own community,

15:17

which I don't think that we do.

15:19

We a

15:21

lot of times.

15:21

You'll see us pursue solutions

15:24

to problems that

15:26

affect those of us who are

15:29

in the best condition, right. I mean,

15:31

this is this is one of the things I would say about

15:33

the DEI fight, which is not something

15:36

we brought up. That's something companies brought up to protect

15:38

themselves. But I'll just say, DEI

15:42

only affects you if you work in that country,

15:44

in that company. The vast majority

15:46

of our people don't work in corporations. DEI

15:48

will never make a dimes bit of difference to them,

15:51

a vast majority. And so the question is

15:53

what is affecting most of our community.

15:56

Traffic stops is one of those things that I'd argue

15:58

is traffic stop happens to you if

16:01

you work at a corporation and you edge poor.

16:03

Yeah, right, if you're equalizing.

16:05

Our welfare, you live in the project, you

16:07

know, it certainly affects you more if you're poorer.

16:09

Yeah, it gets everybody who's black.

16:11

Yeah, And so that unifies

16:14

the black community across class lines. And so I

16:16

think that's what I would offer to that discussion.

16:19

Sure, well, I

16:22

imagine that you're just getting

16:25

started with a lot of things. So before I let you go,

16:27

I feel compelled to ask what

16:30

is next for you? If you're able to share

16:32

anything in the future, planning a book, a

16:35

tour.

16:36

I have an election a couple of weeks. I

16:38

have an election in a few weeks.

16:39

I want to make sure we win that decisively,

16:43

and then you know, then we'll get on to

16:45

get on to other ventures. But

16:47

you know, I'm I'm a big fan of keeping the main

16:49

thing, the main thing.

16:50

Okay, I'm not mad at that. That works for me, So

16:53

let's do this.

16:53

Then, before we let you go, let

16:56

the people know how they can tap in with

16:58

you, how they can support you. Socials website,

17:00

donate all of that.

17:02

So you can

17:05

get me on socials. Mh D c

17:07

D eight.

17:07

That's MHD like my name, Marquise

17:10

Harris Dawson c D Council

17:12

District eight, So mh D c D eight

17:14

on all the socials.

17:16

I also have a.

17:17

Campaign

17:20

Instagram account.

17:21

It's mh D dot

17:25

l A twenty twenty.

17:26

Four and on there we'll have you know, you'll be able

17:28

to donate, you can volunteer, you can sign up and

17:31

do a host of other things. But you know, again, we got election

17:34

coming up and then we got just every day doing

17:36

the people's work.

17:37

We need as much help as we can get.

17:39

Got you, well, I want

17:41

to thank you for

17:43

taking the time to come onto the show. We're

17:46

going to do our best to support you. And

17:48

when you win decisively, please come back

17:50

when you're victory of that, and you

17:53

know, let's let's build here.

17:54

Man.

17:54

I think that you're doing some amazing things, and I know

17:56

that our listeners would love to

17:59

to stay in form and stay in the loop and of course

18:01

support all that you have going on. Once again, our

18:04

guest is Los Angeles City Council

18:06

President Ro Tempore Marquis

18:09

Harris Dawson.

18:11

Thank you.

18:14

This has been a production of the Black Information Network.

18:16

Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson.

18:19

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

18:21

microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app.

18:23

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

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18:28

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18:30

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