0:11

Hey kinfolk . How you doing? I'm here

0:13

with Amanda Kate Edwards. She's

0:16

an attorney former candidate

0:18

for the U S Senate and

0:21

she served 2.3

0:23

million people in the city, Houston as

0:26

a city council member. She's

0:28

an Eisenhower, Brad.

0:30

I'm glad to be here with her

0:32

today. She is the finest

0:35

leader of our generation

0:37

here in the city of Houston, Amanda

0:40

K. Edwards.

0:40

Well, that's an introduction. Thank you so much

0:42

for having me on and, and let me say

0:44

this. Thank you for , uh, extending

0:47

a platform to talk about issues that are really important

0:49

in our community. So I'm happy

0:51

to join you today.

0:53

Well , um, you

0:55

know, the topic is where do we go from

0:57

here, but before we get into, where

0:59

do we go from here? I want people

1:02

to hear a little bit about your journey.

1:05

Where are you from? And

1:07

, uh , how did you get here?

1:09

So, part of my story, so I

1:11

am from Houston, born and raised , uh

1:13

, grew up on the North side of town

1:16

and , uh, went to Eisenhower

1:18

high school, which is in the Aldin

1:20

public school district. And after

1:23

I graduated from there, went

1:25

on to school outside of , of Houston,

1:28

went to Emory university in Atlanta.

1:31

Uh, it was there. I think that I really

1:33

began to really appreciate, I was very

1:35

involved when I was in high schools

1:37

, you know, student government and

1:40

class president and athlete

1:42

and those sorts of things. But when I got

1:44

to college, I think that's when

1:46

I learned how to respond

1:48

in moments of deed and

1:51

being prepared for those responses.

1:53

So in other words, we had a lot of race-based controversy.

1:56

I was , um , in student

1:58

government, I was a student count , uh , college

2:00

council president, and, and held

2:03

other positions. And , um,

2:05

with that being said, we

2:07

had a lot of controversies that would arise

2:09

out of racial, insensitivity,

2:11

racism, et cetera. And

2:13

sometimes you have to be ready to know what

2:15

you need to see in order to improve

2:18

that community. Cause you know, there's

2:20

always a small window of

2:22

that you have when you're trying to

2:24

lead change or stand up for what's

2:27

right in the face of adversity or injustice.

2:30

And so I think that was when I really had

2:32

a number of opportunities to learn how to do

2:34

that. Um,

2:37

I'm going to slow you . I'm going to slow you down.

2:39

I want to go back to you.

2:41

You're from the North side of Houston, went

2:44

to all the school districts . What

2:47

pushed you to say, I'm going

2:50

outside of the North side,

2:53

going to Atlanta and go on

2:55

to school. What , what drove you there?

2:57

You know , really it was finding the

2:59

right fit for me. And I was

3:02

a very studious person.

3:04

I was , uh, you know , uh,

3:07

I had a very high

3:09

level of achievement academically, but I'm

3:11

also very social and I

3:13

wanted a good balance of,

3:15

you know, a place that had a vibrant campus

3:18

life and in a place where I

3:20

could thrive academically as well.

3:22

And I happened to , uh

3:24

, have gone on a visit to Emory

3:27

and it just felt like the perfect fit for

3:29

me. Um, I didn't

3:31

have that on a list from, you know,

3:34

10 years before it really was

3:36

, uh , uh, you know, a situation

3:38

in which it became the feeling

3:40

once I was there. Now we'll say I was a difficult

3:43

decision. I just lost my father

3:45

, uh, the year before I went

3:47

off to school. So my father passed away

3:50

from a long battle with cancer

3:52

when I was a junior in high school. And so, you

3:55

know, I had to weigh, do I leave

3:57

my mom? I was the baby, you

3:59

know , do I leave or do I have to go

4:01

away for school or do I stay here?

4:03

And you know, my dad was somebody

4:06

who instilled that, you know, it's

4:08

up to you to decide what it is that

4:10

is going to, you know, what

4:12

your path is going to be and you can achieve

4:15

and do anything you want. So I

4:17

decided to

4:18

Atlanta and it felt right.

4:20

Yeah. I w when I got to campus,

4:23

it was, you know, a lot of, a lot of kids

4:25

that were real focused on their academics

4:27

and they were active on campus. You know,

4:29

students, there were groups,

4:31

it wasn't just a , uh, you know

4:34

, uh, you know, one track, one

4:36

dimensional experience. So I

4:38

was involved. Ah,

4:42

so tell mama not to do that to you.

4:46

Maybe you going out to Atlanta, she just said, well, I'm to

4:49

go .

4:49

I want you to go to Atlanta. No,

4:51

but it was fine. I mean, I enjoyed

4:54

the campus. I enjoyed the students. I

4:56

was very involved. I was in all

4:59

kinds of stuff from being a community

5:01

building and social change fellow to being

5:04

an AKA. I mean,

5:06

you name it. I was, I was involved

5:08

in it, but also was very serious

5:10

about my keeping my grades up and

5:13

eventually ended up going to Harvard

5:16

for law school. But in between that

5:18

got a chance to work for Congresswoman Sheila

5:20

Jackson Lee in Washington. So

5:22

, uh, that's when I learned how to

5:24

run around on the Hill and you know, it is

5:26

not an easy game, even

5:29

if you're interning it's it's it's,

5:31

but it's a great learning experience. A

5:33

great learnings .

5:34

One question with,

5:37

so did you know that you always wanted

5:39

to be a lawyer or did

5:42

that evolve over time?

5:44

New ? For most of my , I mean, when I was

5:46

extremely little, you know, I

5:49

thought I was going to be so many

5:51

different things and I'm talking about like three years old,

5:53

but as I got older

5:55

and, you know, I thought, you know,

5:58

I think I pretty much knew for most of

6:00

my adolescents

6:03

, if you will. That, that was what I wanted to do.

6:05

And I don't know why

6:08

I thought that that was the path for me. I was also

6:10

interested in public service. Um,

6:12

now the reasons you might be interested

6:14

in public service when you are a teenager

6:17

is a little bit different than why you might be interested

6:20

when you become an adult.

6:22

And of course, I formed

6:24

purpose behind my interest. I re you

6:26

know, my dad passing away from cancer,

6:29

you know, what really shed light as I was learning

6:32

when my dad was ill and I would ask

6:34

him questions about his

6:36

treatments and I would ask him, so

6:38

what happens? Cause he explained how, you

6:40

know, insurance worked. Cause , you know,

6:43

you don't necessarily understand or appreciate

6:45

that and innately. And so

6:47

I said, well, what happens if they say no? You

6:49

know, and I remember my dad explaining,

6:52

you know, as you know, that

6:54

that was a possibility. In some instances,

6:56

my dad was getting something to experimental treatments,

6:59

et cetera. And you

7:01

know, for a lot of people, that's a life or death

7:03

situation. I mean, we were very fortunate

7:05

that wasn't the case for my daddy. He did

7:07

have good insurance, but you

7:10

know, so many people don't. And so that was when

7:12

it clicked to me for the first time that, Oh,

7:14

okay, this, you know, when you

7:16

go and you represent people, it's not

7:18

just about making decisions on their behalf.

7:21

It's about also understanding that you

7:23

are having to be a steward of

7:25

people's lives. You literally hold people's

7:27

lives in your hands, by your actions

7:29

and inactions. And so it's

7:32

not just your action. It's also your

7:34

inaction, your failure to act. And so

7:37

being a public service is really

7:39

serious in terms of the business

7:41

that you really do , um,

7:44

occupy in the responsibility that

7:46

you have to make really sound decisions

7:48

and strong and be as strongly .

7:50

So you, you

7:53

leave Emory , you go to Harvard law.

7:57

What's your impression when you first get onto

7:59

the campus?

8:00

No, I'm just kidding. Um ,

8:04

That was actually my biggest fear honestly,

8:06

was like what I, cause I am

8:08

so, you know, summer,

8:10

I love summer. I

8:12

can deal with the, I cannot deal

8:15

with winter cold. So I was so

8:17

afraid of what that would feel like.

8:19

Would that be depressing? You know, I just

8:21

did not, I was not ready for the snow.

8:25

Uh, and so that was a big concern,

8:27

but truthfully , um, besides

8:29

for that, I mean, it was so dynamic

8:31

in terms of the types of

8:33

people that you meet and come across.

8:36

Um , you know, I had people in my class

8:39

that were formerly rocket

8:41

scientists or doctors

8:43

and just, you know, just all

8:45

kinds of interesting, fascinating backgrounds

8:48

that don't necessarily, you

8:50

know, all match each other. And

8:52

I, I really enjoy meeting and

8:55

a lot of incredible people. And while I was there

8:57

, uh , one of my professors

9:00

, uh , Martha minnow , uh, she

9:02

was my section leader. She was one of , uh,

9:04

president Obama's , uh , former president

9:06

Obama's , uh, professors and, and

9:09

one of my mentors , uh, Charles Ogletree,

9:12

same thing. Yeah. And so

9:15

Charles Ogletree and , and, and

9:17

I worked for , uh, Elizabeth

9:20

Warren on a blog that she had in terms

9:22

of the middle class. So you , you know,

9:24

it was really cool in terms of just some

9:26

of the folks that I ultimately came

9:28

across my Dean at the time was

9:31

it ended up becoming one of our Supreme court justices,

9:34

Dina , uh, Elena Kagan now Supreme

9:36

court justice, Elena Kagan.

9:38

Yeah. So you

9:41

leave Harvard love . I

9:44

know your background, but I

9:46

want to understand some of this internal wrestle

9:49

because you have the opportunity

9:52

to make, I mean, lawyers

9:54

make decent living, but you have

9:56

the opportunity to make, you

9:58

know, a lot of money. How

10:01

do you wrestle with the

10:03

heart you have for public service

10:06

and the opportunity

10:09

to just kill

10:11

it?

10:12

I mean, you know, and in the beginning

10:14

that was a challenge for

10:17

me. I started off, I clerked.

10:19

So after I graduated at clerked in federal

10:21

court for a year, and then

10:23

I started a program for kids teaching

10:25

them how to use writing as a tool of empowerment,

10:28

this was after Katrina. So I had moved down to new

10:30

Orleans. And so it was a

10:32

real dilemma because I literally

10:34

did not know if I was going to stay

10:36

in new Orleans and stay working

10:39

with kids and doing that work or

10:41

go down this pathway of,

10:43

you know, becoming this lawyer and,

10:46

and getting a job maybe at a big firm

10:48

who knows. And so I prayed a lot

10:50

about that and I, I, you

10:53

know, had a , uh , a long

10:55

deliberation over it , but eventually I decided

10:57

that I would open more opportunities

11:00

to myself by , um, exposing

11:02

myself professionally to more

11:04

training opportunities like practicing law.

11:07

And then if I wanted to do the other things,

11:09

I could always do go and do those other

11:11

things. And so I came back

11:13

home to Houston , um, and

11:16

I started practicing law. It

11:18

kind of split the baby. I was doing

11:21

stuff in the public interest and still

11:23

in a big firm. So I was , uh

11:25

, what we call a public finance lawyer.

11:28

So , uh, building hospitals,

11:30

building schools, doing that kind of

11:32

work. So I was like, okay, these are good

11:34

public projects, but

11:37

you know, it wasn't a big firm context.

11:39

And then I was serving on a bunch of

11:41

nonprofit boards and, and

11:44

in doing that, you know, really kind

11:46

of was trying to straddle this line. And

11:48

ultimately it was one of those things

11:50

where it's like, okay, you're on

11:53

the periphery, you're comfortable, but

11:55

is that what your purpose is? So this woman

11:58

named Oprah Winfrey who likes to talk about

12:00

purpose all the time, you know, she's

12:02

in my ear, not directly in my

12:04

ear, but , um, but am

12:06

I aligned with that? And

12:08

the truth was I was dancing

12:10

around it and you have to muster up

12:12

some courage to really dive in, especially

12:14

in a place in space where a

12:16

lot of people might think it's crazy. You know?

12:19

So in my case , um,

12:21

why would I give up this opportunity

12:23

doing well and just , you know, this

12:26

big firm environment and you still are doing

12:28

good in the community, you still get to help

12:30

with nonprofit boards. I was on, I

12:32

was the president of the board at project row

12:34

houses and all the risks, but

12:37

am I doing enough for my purpose?

12:39

And in terms of why I'm here in the question

12:42

for me was that I needed to realign.

12:44

And so I , um, got

12:47

into politics and I don't

12:49

even like politics, which is even crazier,

12:54

but I love the service. I love

12:56

public service. So to me, I

12:58

can deal with the politics if ultimately

13:01

I can serve in a way that's meaningful and

13:03

impactful for people. And so I

13:05

ran for office in 2015,

13:09

but it was scary.

13:11

Yeah, I, I can imagine.

13:14

Um, so you, you

13:16

said something you said, and

13:19

I think we only have, we

13:22

have windows in life, and I'm sure you talk

13:24

to people who had the same

13:26

struggles that you had maybe

13:29

a little older. And I don't know

13:31

if you felt like, man, I

13:33

got a certain window where

13:35

I can literally fulfill

13:39

the purpose. God has given me what,

13:41

you know, and I

13:43

can wait 20 years to do it, or

13:46

I can do it now.

13:47

[inaudible] and that's what I

13:49

was. That's exactly what I said. Well, I said, well, I

13:51

can, I can spend my life

13:53

waiting to do what it is that I'm my

13:57

purposes , or I can just go do it. And

13:59

so, you know, I actually

14:01

use my life for that purpose

14:04

as opposed to waiting my life to

14:06

fulfill that purpose. And so I

14:08

decided to dive in, but not

14:10

immediately, like I , you know, I

14:12

wanted to make sure that I had

14:15

something to offer more than just

14:17

my desire to serve. You gotta make

14:20

sure you're equipped with the

14:23

skills, the , uh,

14:25

perspective, varied experiences

14:28

that would make you a better surgeon

14:31

in my case, wanting to be a public servant or

14:33

make me a good or a better public servant,

14:35

not just cause I wanted to be in a position.

14:39

What are those things that you think prepared

14:41

you , uh, in between,

14:44

you know, new Orleans and, and

14:47

running in 2015 that prepared

14:49

you for public service? I think being

14:52

Able to have very

14:54

perspectives is so important.

14:56

Cause you know, or you better appreciate

14:59

the language that people are using,

15:01

where they're coming from the perspectives, even

15:03

if it's not your own, you've seen

15:06

it. You've been in certain environments. I often

15:08

say that , um, you

15:10

know, there aren't many rooms where

15:12

I can't that I don't feel like

15:14

I could at least pull up a chair. Now

15:16

I'm saying that in the sense that, of course

15:19

don't, don't ask me to come to , uh

15:21

, some type of , uh , you know,

15:23

KKK media. I'm not going in that room. Yeah.

15:26

I'm not doing that. I'm not suggesting that.

15:28

But my point really is, is that I've

15:30

been in the corporate spaces. I've

15:32

been in grassroots environments. I've

15:34

been in public school. I've

15:37

seen what a Christian school

15:39

looks like. There've been so many different experiences.

15:41

And I think that's really important because

15:44

your goal , your job as a public

15:46

official, isn't just a slam your perspective

15:48

down somebody else's throat. It's

15:51

the figure out, how do you navigate the

15:54

buried perspectives and varied viewpoints

15:57

to get to a

16:00

space in place where we're ultimately

16:02

folks can be served best. And I think

16:04

you've gotta be able to work with people,

16:07

understand and appreciate their perspective,

16:09

really listen and hear them and

16:11

having those different experiences

16:14

I think helps you with that. I think

16:16

it's much more challenging if your

16:18

perspective is limited

16:20

in terms of your own experience, that

16:23

hasn't had a lot of variety

16:25

to it. It isn't to say you can't be a leader.

16:27

It's just not you to me,

16:29

it's, it's, it's easier

16:31

to lead when you're able to put

16:33

yourself in someone else's shoes and really know

16:35

what that means.

16:38

Uh, so , uh , so

16:41

given your experience, given your background,

16:45

why in 2015, did

16:47

you run for Houston

16:49

city council that had done anything,

16:51

could ramp anything? Why that,

16:53

Well, you know, I'm , uh , I believe

16:55

that it's not always being in the spaces

16:58

that you're comfortable and

17:00

I don't even like politics. So for

17:02

me to go in a city, local politics,

17:05

my goodness, why would you do that? But

17:07

to me, that was where the change

17:11

in terms of some of the things I'm , you know, I'm

17:13

a lifelong Houstonian absent me

17:15

going away from school and, and some other experiences.

17:18

But I was born here and

17:20

are in Houston and , and had some very strong

17:23

opinions about how our

17:25

city ought to be and what was happening

17:27

in our city or not happening on our city and

17:29

how that should materialize.

17:31

And by the time I'd see a lot of things. It was

17:33

too late. I had those opinions and it was in my

17:35

head. So why not be in an environment where you

17:38

get in there and that arena can actually

17:40

impact things. So things like

17:42

how we invest in our , our communities

17:44

that have been under resourced historically,

17:47

how do we do that in a way that doesn't just

17:49

gentrify them and displace

17:51

folks and move them to the other part

17:53

of town? Um, that's

17:55

not getting the resources, how do we invest

17:57

in a way where they can also be part

17:59

of that benefit? Um, something,

18:02

those are some things that are important to me

18:04

, uh, growing our economy

18:06

in a way that's inclusive. So

18:08

I, I'm a big proponent of

18:11

pushing the tech and innovation economy,

18:13

but I'm also a big proponent of doing that

18:15

in an inclusive way. How do we bring everybody

18:17

to the table when we're trying to push that

18:19

or small businesses, how do we do that?

18:22

How do we address a future of work? Uh,

18:24

that's one of the biggest anxiety inducing

18:27

issues. And, and, you know, prior to

18:29

COVID was that the economy

18:31

was changing. Where do I fit into that? And

18:33

so answering those kinds of questions,

18:36

also looking at, you know , small

18:38

business ownership, how do we support them?

18:41

And just a variety of issues that I

18:43

had strong feelings about , uh

18:45

, transportation being a big one as

18:47

well, and trying to get in there

18:49

and do something about it. Not just have opinions,

18:51

but actually help to shape policy

18:54

and resources in the directions that

18:56

I felt like they needed to go. So all Houstonians

18:59

could thrive and we could really realize

19:01

our potential collectively

19:04

Yeah. On that issue of , of Houston.

19:07

It seems to be that there's a trend

19:10

that the power and the

19:12

focus of politics

19:14

in our country is moving from

19:16

the federal government to how

19:19

the city States, if you will.

19:22

Uh , because I mean, Houston does it just doesn't

19:24

drive Houston. It drives

19:26

the whole Southwest. It seems like

19:29

the power or the, at least the attention

19:31

is shifting towards the

19:34

city States, for instance, like, you

19:37

know what we're doing here

19:39

with, COVID both in Houston

19:41

and Harris County is making national

19:44

news five, 10 years ago.

19:46

Maybe that's not the case, but

19:48

it seems like that that there's a

19:51

dynamic where the city States are

19:53

kind of taking shape. Cause we really

19:55

don't have much, God is ship

19:57

leadership shepherding from

19:59

the federal government. What do you think?

20:01

I think definitely there's been a shift

20:04

in terms of the focus or understanding

20:07

about politics happening

20:10

on the ground and impacting

20:12

change on the ground. It's the closest to the people.

20:14

You hear the people, you see the people we

20:17

live with, the people we serve. Um,

20:19

but then beyond that, there's so many

20:21

decision points that get made. It's the distribution

20:24

of these big block grants that get

20:26

made here. And how do we do that? It's the

20:28

policies. Are we allowing

20:31

people , uh , opportunity?

20:33

Are we doing the things we're supposed to do?

20:35

I will tell you as someone who went

20:37

through the experience of Harvey, both

20:39

in terms of seeing the devastation

20:42

as it was being, as it was playing

20:44

out, being in , in the shelter with,

20:46

with people, but seeing, and

20:48

being a part of the experience of how

20:51

long and delayed it

20:53

is for people to actually get the help that

20:55

they need. It's 20, 20 and

20:58

Harvey happened in 2017

21:00

and there still so many people

21:02

who are waiting for the help that they

21:04

need. That's agregious. And

21:07

these are the kinds of things that you gotta

21:09

have a committed level, you

21:12

know, systems of government , uh , from

21:14

the top to the bottom and

21:16

in order to distribute the funds advocate

21:18

for what the community members need. And

21:21

the best way to know that is when you're with the

21:23

people, that's the best way to know that,

21:25

but then you've got to keep pushing

21:27

because the way the federal government

21:29

is, is not designed to work effectively

21:32

or efficiently, that is not the design

21:34

of our federal government and tell

21:40

you're telling me. And so, yeah,

21:42

I mean, it's , it's not designed to, to

21:44

do what we needed to do.

21:46

And so a lot of what has to be to

21:49

happen is that the local government has to fill

21:51

in those gaps and make those right calls.

21:53

And policy is,

21:56

you know, politics are local, but a lot of policy

21:58

is local. And that's in fact, a lot of what

22:00

affects your day to day.

22:03

So shifting a little

22:05

bit, you you're on city

22:07

council, you make this

22:09

decision to run

22:12

or us

22:14

Senator representing the great

22:17

state of Texas. Why,

22:19

and , uh, in the aftermath,

22:22

what have you learned?

22:23

Uh, so I'll start with the , in the aftermath. What have

22:25

I learned? Don't get in a race that has

22:28

too many people in it and

22:33

then a presidential year where they're totally some odd

22:35

candidates. Um, it, wasn't

22:37

a little bit tough that race in terms of just

22:39

the dynamics we got, you know, real

22:41

crowded out in, in the stage

22:43

, uh, early stages of that

22:45

, that campaign or race , but the truth

22:48

in all seriousness. Um, I

22:50

decided to run because I realized

22:54

after the 2018 cycle, how

22:56

quickly Texas was changing. And

22:58

I don't mean, you know, it had been projected

23:00

that the state could flip in

23:03

2024. And

23:05

I was like, Nope , the state can

23:07

flip down. And when we saw

23:09

Beto get within 215,000

23:12

votes of winning in 2018 against

23:15

Cruz in a time when no

23:17

one thought it was even reasonable

23:19

to expect there to be even a competitive

23:21

race, let alone someone getting

23:24

that close. I mean, you

23:26

know, just to give you perspective, that's

23:28

less than the size of a district

23:31

out of our 11 city council districts. One

23:34

district that's less than one city council district

23:36

in the city of Houston. I had represented

23:38

the entire city, but I'm just giving you perspective.

23:41

That's not that many votes in the state with

23:43

this many, you know, all of these people.

23:45

And so consequently , um,

23:48

I knew that there was a shift, it was happening

23:51

very rapidly. It was also brought

23:53

about by Trump and

23:55

so in a prison potential election

23:57

cycle year , uh , with that

24:00

type of pressure on for change.

24:02

Cause I knew that the change would be desired

24:05

and you would see a lot of people who also

24:07

were maybe moderates, you

24:09

know, go toward the democratic side

24:11

of the world because they don't like the direction our country is

24:13

headed. Um, so I got in

24:15

the race. Um, I wasn't the only

24:18

person who knew , uh , that this

24:20

change was going to be the , uh , resulting.

24:22

And so I got into a very crowded reason. I

24:24

wasn't in a crowded field when I got

24:26

in, but it became a very crowded field.

24:29

And consequently, it was,

24:32

you know, us dividing up our votes

24:34

in different ways. And we had challenges

24:37

, uh, really getting , um,

24:39

you know, statewide attention on our race

24:41

because of the fact that people were still

24:44

very confused of who they would pick for

24:46

presence by that March , sir primary.

24:49

So they really focusing on the,

24:51

you know, we had 20, some odd candidates on

24:53

the democratic primary , uh

24:56

, presidential stage. So I mean

24:58

, uh , uh , presidential candidate

25:01

list . So ultimately it was a tough,

25:03

it was a tough time , um, to,

25:05

to break through. But , um,

25:07

lessons learned from it is, you know,

25:09

do I regret the fact that I was willing

25:11

to confront something that is, was

25:14

a big challenge? Absolutely not. Uh

25:16

, do I miss serving actively?

25:18

Of course I do. Of course you want to

25:20

win when you run, but there are so

25:22

many lessons and so many people and so

25:24

many issues and so many things that

25:26

I learned in that process and it was

25:28

invaluable. Um, do

25:30

I believe that's the end of my journey? Absolutely

25:33

not. Uh, you know, just like

25:35

any, any fighter, anybody

25:37

with, you know , bigger bowl dreams, you

25:39

have to keep being, you got to keep

25:41

pushing forward and you have to persevere. But

25:44

in my case right now in

25:46

the stage and season that I am in it's

25:48

about finding ways to contribute

25:50

value, that really does make a

25:52

difference. So, you know, the announcement

25:55

that Kama Harris , uh , VR

25:57

first black woman , uh , vice

25:59

president not, was

26:01

not something that I took lightly.

26:04

And I'm excited about the prospect

26:06

of having, not just a , uh,

26:09

not just having a new administration,

26:11

but also breaking some of these glass ceilings

26:14

that have just really impeded

26:16

our ability as a nation to move forward

26:19

and in ways that we deserve. And so

26:21

I'm excited about that. And I

26:23

think that , um , we have a

26:25

huge opportunity on our hands , uh,

26:27

to really shift the , the nation. And

26:29

I will say COVID COVID

26:31

was an awakening and so

26:34

many different ways. It seemed like we were

26:36

in slumber, but in truth , uh

26:38

, we were really having our eyes opened

26:41

to so many different

26:43

problems that before we were just too

26:45

busy to pay attention to our digital

26:47

divide, I've been talking about digital divide for

26:49

years. And it wasn't until

26:52

now where people understood what I was talking

26:54

about because the kids can get access

26:56

to class because they don't have the access

26:58

to the internet or their student can't, or,

27:01

you know, they're realizing all that

27:03

real impacts to this. It's not just, you

27:06

know, some progressive agenda.

27:08

It's actually something that matters and

27:10

impedes people's ability to be successful

27:13

in an environment like this or how

27:15

to work. If you don't have internet, you're not

27:17

going to have access to jobs in during COVID.

27:20

I mean, in a number of jobs, let me

27:22

say that , uh , some jobs

27:24

you will continue to have access to, but

27:27

others you won't. And so it's really

27:29

about people now beginning to appreciate,

27:31

I mean, you, right there

27:33

could not be a better example

27:36

than the George Floyd murder of

27:38

the breakdown in our criminal justice

27:40

system and how that ties to the breakdown

27:43

in economic policy and how that ties

27:46

to police brutality and how all

27:48

of these things are just really,

27:50

really bad things that are happening in society

27:53

right underneath people's noses. But again,

27:56

before now, people had just been too

27:58

busy or preoccupied with the

28:00

way things were. And so now

28:02

I think with this reset, people

28:04

have an opportunity. I've I wrote a piece

28:07

about opportunity for an innovation

28:09

Renaissance, where we can use

28:12

this moment and see these , these shortcomings

28:15

and these phone dysfunction , systemic

28:17

dysfunctions, and really actually do something

28:19

meaningful about it while you got people actually

28:21

paying attention to them. Uh , the

28:23

PPP lone shit shed light

28:25

to the fact that you have so many

28:27

small businesses that don't have the relationships

28:30

with banks that don't get access to the capital

28:32

. Now this happens all the time and I've worked

28:34

on these issues, but until now

28:36

it wasn't a kitchen table discussion point

28:38

until now you say, Oh, was it

28:40

right for shake shack to get millions of dollars

28:43

in that little restaurant that we lied

28:45

down the street to have to shut down because they can't

28:47

get the money. And those

28:49

are the things that now people can appreciate

28:52

that they never before really focused

28:54

on.

28:56

So , uh, and, and

28:58

first of all, I mean, you are

29:01

our era Houston States person

29:04

, uh , for lack of a better word.

29:06

So your voice is the loudest,

29:08

and we need to hear your voice regardless

29:10

of whether you hold an office or not.

29:13

You hold that office. And a lot of people

29:15

look to you for guidance. So

29:18

shifting gears, where

29:20

were you the day that you heard George

29:23

Floyd at Pat ?

29:24

Well, I, you know, I watched it,

29:26

it was, you know, I usually don't

29:29

try to watch a lot of love , like

29:32

videos and stuff like that on

29:34

social media, but it

29:36

was just so bizarre. I had watched,

29:39

I think I had watched the , um,

29:41

Amy Cooper video and

29:44

that was the instance in central park

29:46

where she said, I'm going to tell the

29:48

police that an African American

29:51

man is threatening me in a park or whatever. She said

29:54

to use race to basically

29:56

make false allegations

29:59

against him. And

30:01

, uh, as he just asked

30:03

her to leach her dog. And

30:05

so I was very, very

30:07

frustrated by watching that video.

30:10

Cause you know, usually I don't get that kind of up

30:12

close and personal stuff . Same

30:14

day that I saw that video. Cause

30:16

when I watched the doors Floyd

30:18

murder, so I kind of had that in the

30:21

background of my energy already.

30:23

And like I said, I don't normally

30:25

like something like that. I wouldn't normally want

30:28

to just watch all the way through, but it

30:30

was something about, it

30:32

was something about the angle

30:35

of the shot. You felt like

30:37

you were there, you heard the

30:39

angst in the voices of people

30:41

who were asking officer Shovan

30:43

to stop, let him breathe,

30:46

move your knee. All of the things

30:48

you heard him screaming out for his mother

30:51

and you watched his face,

30:53

you've watched the life, leave his

30:55

body. It was so

30:57

intimate to me that it

30:59

just grabbed me. And I just felt

31:02

so upset

31:04

by what I saw in

31:06

broad. Literally we use the term all the

31:08

time, broad daylight , broad daylight.

31:11

It literally in broad daylight

31:13

with a crowd of people around

31:15

him, begging him to do the right thing

31:18

and the hands in pockets as

31:21

he killed this man, he murdered

31:23

him and consequently,

31:25

I just felt my own self.

31:28

I felt a shift within my own self and

31:30

it's not that I haven't had

31:32

concerns about issues of race in the

31:34

past. Certainly I have and I

31:36

have I've been moved in the past, but

31:39

I think the combination of all of

31:41

these factors, you know, the Amy

31:43

Cooper video , uh,

31:46

the George Floyd, the way it was shot,

31:48

just all of it combined

31:50

with Colvin. Cause I'm at home

31:53

now. And you know, so

31:55

I'm , so

31:57

it just, it stirred something

31:59

up in me in a way that

32:01

I think it stirred a lot of people where it was

32:04

just like, I've got to say something,

32:07

cause this is not right. We cannot continue this

32:09

way. And I think a lot of people felt the

32:11

exact same way. Like what I just

32:13

saw there. I don't know what you, I mean,

32:15

I call it murder. I don't know what anybody

32:17

else calls it, but that's what I'm going to say .

32:20

Yeah . And definitely Murray and the

32:22

truth and execution and

32:25

that it was done by the state hands

32:28

In that case, you know, if

32:31

we're going to let this happen like this

32:33

at this time, what else?

32:36

And it just became that kind

32:38

of rhetorical. And in my

32:40

time , and in my generation, I just cannot

32:43

not say anything about it.

32:45

And so, you know, it was right after,

32:47

it was not very long after I lost the

32:50

race. So, you know, I was kind of regrouping

32:52

from that and it just kind

32:54

of was it woke me up. I mean, not

32:56

to say I was asleep, but it woke

32:58

me up in terms of the fact

33:01

that we needed all hands

33:03

on deck. And to , again,

33:05

like I mentioned in college, you know,

33:07

you have these moments and you have these windows,

33:10

what are you going to do about them? What are you going to do with

33:12

them? How are you going to use this moment

33:14

to actually lend itself

33:17

to longterm systemic change rather

33:19

than an interesting period of

33:21

time, we don't need an interesting

33:23

period of time. We need the longterm systemic

33:26

change. And so that is a catalyst

33:29

for that. If we're smart, if

33:31

we're vigilant, if we are consistent,

33:34

if we are tireless in our efforts

33:36

and we're clear about what it is

33:38

that we want to see. And that's

33:40

the kind of communication

33:43

that I started to try to put out

33:45

is being clear of the demands

33:47

that we want. Um, being comprehensive,

33:50

being organized in our asks

33:53

, uh, I would equip people

33:55

with letters so they could advocate

33:57

for themselves on the federal

33:59

level, on the state level, on the County

34:02

level, on city level, on

34:04

the task force level, because it was

34:06

a task force in the city, but

34:09

equipping people with the tools so that

34:11

they could collectively advocate. Um,

34:14

and it not be something that just goes away

34:16

because the new cycle changes I've lived through

34:18

that. I saw that during Harvey. I

34:21

know what it means when a news cycle changes,

34:23

because that means you got hundreds

34:25

of people who, thousands of people

34:27

potentially who are out of

34:29

resources or dark on to get their resources

34:31

because it's not the story of the day

34:34

anymore. I had, you know,

34:36

I , I drove a New York times

34:38

, uh, um, writer

34:40

through Northeast Houston to show

34:42

him and introduce him to some folks. And

34:45

it wasn't until one of the individuals

34:47

was profiled. Does she

34:49

get her, her, her resources

34:51

from FEMA? So she had to be

34:53

profiled in the New York times in

34:56

order to get her claim and I , that woman's

34:59

home. And I tell you, as someone

35:01

who walked in that home and saw

35:03

the holes in the floor, saw the

35:05

mold from my own eyes, this

35:08

woman had severe damage. Still

35:11

somebody denied had the audacity

35:13

unite that claim when it was agregious.

35:16

And so, you know, we can't

35:18

let those kinds of situations

35:21

emerge. We have to use the moments

35:23

that we have. We got corporate America

35:25

right now. Now everybody issued

35:27

their statement. Everybody wanted

35:29

to tell you their values and how

35:32

they Stanford justice and

35:34

racial equality and

35:36

opportunity and all of the things.

35:39

And so, yeah

35:41

, I would , I want to see, so

35:43

here's my idea. Tell me what you think

35:45

about this, but wouldn't it be beautiful

35:48

if we had all of those major powerhouse

35:50

organizations, because understand this,

35:53

when you go back to the sixties and you look at

35:55

the civil rights movement, you had to have bipartisan

35:58

support to get those measures passed

36:00

64 65, 68.

36:02

You had to have bipartisan support

36:05

two weeks after we buried George

36:08

Floyd, two weeks, two weeks later,

36:11

we had the Republicans in the

36:13

Senate led by John Cornyn

36:16

against whom I was seeking to run , um,

36:19

who were pushing forward. Something called

36:21

the justice act, which didn't have

36:23

teeth to it. I, you know , actually

36:25

went through the measure. It

36:28

didn't have teeth to it. And

36:30

this was a time where it was time for bold

36:32

change, transformational change. And

36:35

they were putting up something that was

36:37

superficial in nature. This

36:39

is not the time for that type of politics

36:42

as usual. This is the time that we need

36:44

to be serious about the change of the people

36:46

who are demanding in the streets to see,

36:49

and yet, and still our government

36:51

is nonresponsive to that. So I say

36:53

that to say John

36:56

Cornyn and those

36:58

that thought that was a good idea. They're

37:01

not listening to the calls from me,

37:03

but they would listen if corporate

37:05

America, who's writing these value

37:07

statements about racial

37:09

injustice and all of the rest. If

37:12

they picked up the phone and they said, Hey,

37:15

we don't stand for this. We want more. That's

37:18

the constituency that has

37:21

his ear, not mine, not me,

37:23

but those to whom he

37:25

feels accountable. And so I

37:27

say that to say, we got to bring

37:30

our corporate, our core corporate

37:32

allies, as well as our stakeholders

37:34

in the community, our activists in our communities,

37:37

our policy bring them to the same

37:39

table, create an agenda

37:42

that involves not just police brutality

37:44

and criminal justice reform, economic

37:46

opportunity have

37:48

a comprehensive agenda and

37:51

how a real push to

37:53

get this doc tech done at a time certain,

37:56

and not just in terms of this is what we're

37:58

committed to. I mean, picking up the

38:00

phone and advocating

38:02

and advocating with the folks that could

38:04

be considered to who considered

38:07

the barriers to progress. That's

38:09

when we're going to really see change,

38:12

like the sweeping change that we were able

38:14

to see back in, in the civil

38:16

rights times. Now, it didn't happen

38:18

immediately, but it's the ability to build

38:21

these coalitions often comprise

38:23

of unlikely bedfellows,

38:25

meaning you don't necessarily have to have the same motivation.

38:28

Sometimes people come to the table because it's monetary

38:30

and interest and they think yes,

38:34

but it absolutely. You've got

38:36

to be able to bring these different stakeholders, give

38:38

them a job and use your leverage

38:41

your resources, not just

38:43

to make the statements, but also pick up that

38:45

phone call to the leaders who

38:48

are, who are causing challenges

38:50

for us and get them to move the

38:52

needle in a way that actually impacts

38:54

the community in a positive way, rather

38:56

than just the politics as usual, that we're

38:58

tired of seeing.

39:01

So it's probably

39:03

safe to say that when

39:05

people say what

39:08

happened to George Floyd, isn't there

39:10

America. I know you

39:13

probably don't put much

39:15

stake in that. Cause it's probably the

39:17

America that we've all known. We

39:19

just choose to hide it.

39:20

I mean, it's, it's one of these things.

39:23

We've never realized our promise

39:25

as a country, right?

39:27

Like even from when it was being, when

39:30

we were actually being formed as a country, there

39:32

were slaves. We were S I would have been a slave.

39:35

You know, it , it's never

39:37

been something where we've realized our promise

39:40

in that way. And I think we

39:42

need to, I think this is the first time in my

39:44

, my time on this,

39:46

on this earth where I've seen such a widespread

39:49

recognition of that, like, yeah,

39:51

this is messed up and this shouldn't be

39:53

happening. And people

39:56

willing to listen and have more

39:58

of a dialogue about it,

40:00

but it's not enough just to stop

40:02

there. We've got to empathize,

40:05

understand, listen, and understand, and be

40:07

comprehensive in our efforts in terms

40:09

of what would bring about real change.

40:12

And so on a lot of people in the community,

40:14

they have, you know, they don't see

40:16

law enforcement people oftentimes don't

40:19

understand. They're having two different conversations

40:21

about what law enforcement is. When you're talking

40:23

about an area that has resources,

40:27

then the thought is, Oh, you're here to protect

40:29

my, my, me and my property.

40:32

But oftentimes when you're going into

40:34

communities that have been deprived for

40:36

decades upon decades, you

40:39

are the area that law enforcement might be

40:41

seeking to target. You know, because

40:43

they think you are the criminal,

40:45

you are the problem. And

40:47

therefore it's not a viewpoint

40:49

of, of serving and protecting. It's

40:51

a viewpoint of, let me find my assailant.

40:54

And so looking at people from

40:57

that lens rather than from the

40:59

lens of everybody

41:01

deserves an equal shot at

41:03

being protected or, and

41:06

deserves to be protected and served

41:08

in the , in the same way in that. And, and that's

41:10

something, I think that people who

41:12

haven't had to have encounters like that

41:15

with law enforcement are finally beginning

41:17

to appreciate in

41:19

a, in a broader way, not everybody's

41:21

going to appreciate that, but we're seeing more

41:23

of that.

41:35

Um , given your experiences, given

41:39

your , your high competence, given

41:42

the work that you've done in the previous

41:44

and given , um, some

41:46

of your background, even your faith background,

41:50

someone listening to this is probably

41:52

asked the question, where

41:55

do we go from here? And

41:57

how do I, Joe, public

41:59

get involved? What would you say?

42:02

So I would say, don't

42:04

just raise your voice. When the media

42:07

is got the cameras on, we got

42:09

to keep raising our voices until the change

42:11

that we say, we want results

42:14

that requires us to be

42:16

tenacious and having Durance

42:19

. Um, those there's going to

42:21

be a lot of short term wins. And then there's

42:23

some stuff that's going to just linger and linger

42:26

think, go back through the history of

42:28

civil rights legislation. They

42:30

had the hammer, get this pass , get

42:32

this pack . And they had to, you know, and it

42:35

passed , you know, different pieces. You know, you had the voter rights

42:37

act and you had different components.

42:40

And so we have to stay persistent

42:43

and very clear in our asks.

42:46

Um, I think it's important that

42:48

we continue to do that. So,

42:50

and I often say, don't let anybody on a campaign,

42:53

tail campaign trail, tell you what they're going to do

42:55

unless, and you vote for them unless

42:57

you also are committed to holding

42:59

them accountable for those promises.

43:02

And often it's , it's a game of exploitation,

43:04

to be honest with you, but it doesn't mean you don't participate.

43:07

It means you find those leaders that you can trust

43:09

that want to exploit you. And if

43:11

you don't see them out in the field and you recruit

43:14

who you want to see in leadership, we

43:17

are just as responsible about what

43:19

we get as the next person,

43:21

because it's up for us to

43:23

support those that we feel comfortable

43:26

and confident in standing behind. So if you see

43:28

a candidate that you like, then

43:30

you go find them, you push them. And even

43:33

if you can't donate lots of money, you can

43:35

use your social, social media platforms.

43:37

You can go block, block walking or the

43:39

thing. I mean, I guess that was a pre COVID days,

43:42

but , uh , you can do a lot

43:44

of things to help promote candidates that

43:46

you believe can be effective leaders in office

43:48

and who to whom uh, you feel

43:50

like they can, there would be a line of accountability.

43:53

I think it's important not

43:55

to just pick the people we like. And

43:58

so I know what I'm saying is controversial

44:00

in that it's not just about picking

44:03

the people you'd like, or, you know, cause

44:05

that don't mean that they're going to be effective. There

44:07

is a sin . Remember I was telling you about my,

44:09

my father passed away. There is a

44:11

serious job in

44:13

which people's lives, literally

44:16

lag in the balance. And

44:18

so we have to remember that you don't

44:20

just pick a surgeon cause you like, he

44:22

seems nice. You want to make sure somebody is qualified

44:25

and that they can do the job. Same

44:27

thing here. It's not just about charm.

44:30

It's about, it's about an ability

44:32

to figure out how do I maneuver do this environment

44:35

and get this stuff passed. Not

44:38

just to give a speech, but to get this

44:40

stuff passed. And it's, it's about

44:42

finding leaders who are focused,

44:45

laser focus on that, being their job

44:47

and we'll get it done. They won't compromise

44:50

the fact that there are people whose lives

44:53

are lying in a balance. And so,

44:55

yeah, that doesn't mean you're going to always have the

44:57

perfect candidate, but you got to pick the

44:59

candidates who are committed and

45:01

who can deliver the results. Because that

45:03

ultimately is what matters in people's

45:06

lives is the result that emanates

45:08

from that leadership.

45:10

Let me ask you a question. So many

45:13

Campaign, but then also

45:15

engagement once they're

45:17

in office. So what

45:19

do I mean by that? Well,

45:22

what are you doing to pass criminal justice reform?

45:24

The mayor's task force came out

45:26

well, what if you don't see the stuff that you want

45:29

to see on the agenda

45:31

or what if you don't see what

45:33

you think should be a part of the package? You

45:35

advocate, you go, you write your letters,

45:38

you show up, you talk, you write

45:40

your op EDS, you advocate

45:42

any you share and you communicate pressure.

45:46

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. So

45:48

when the pressure brewing from the community

45:51

that can lead to results. So getting

45:54

and galvanizing the public to

45:56

get organized, to advocate what they

45:58

want. Ultimately, what people have

46:00

to remember is that you are in fact,

46:02

the bosses, not the person

46:04

in the swivel chair, but the person

46:06

who cast that vote every two years

46:09

or however often it is,

46:11

that's the person who is

46:14

in charge. You are literally the boss.

46:16

We forget that. We forget that as elected

46:18

officials. And we forget that as the public,

46:20

we, that, that we are in charge, elected officials

46:23

work for us even. You don't

46:25

see what you asked to see. Now

46:27

don't just say, I don't like this. You gotta be clear

46:29

in your ass. Be very clear,

46:31

be very concise. Uh , in

46:33

terms of clear, clarity

46:35

wins the day, be clear in your ass,

46:38

but then make sure people know

46:41

you will hold them accountable. And it's not

46:43

just in one position, it's all positions. There

46:45

are literally things on a list. I have letters

46:47

posted on my social media. So I have formed

46:49

letters and you could see comprehensive set of reforms

46:52

on a federal level or state level on the County

46:54

level, on the city level. I broken

46:57

it down in that way so that people

46:59

know how they can advocate at each and every single

47:01

level in a way that's in tandem with

47:03

each other. So I say that , yes,

47:06

Amanda for Texas. Yes. So

47:09

it's on my Instagram, Instagram

47:11

and Facebook accounts. And

47:13

you can always direct message me , um,

47:16

and to get ahold of me. And I'm happy to send

47:18

you word documents of that.

47:21

Okay . Uh, two questions and then

47:23

we'll close. The first one is,

47:26

so there are people in the faith community that

47:30

sometimes think a candidate

47:33

is on the other side of the aisle.

47:37

Uh, maybe they've voted LA

47:39

lifelong Republican, or

47:41

they voted lifelong Democrat

47:44

and they see a candidate on the other side of the aisle

47:47

that they think is a quality

47:49

candidate and they don't

47:51

push the button. What do you say to

47:53

that?

47:55

It's important to understand who you're voting

47:57

for , uh , what , what side

48:00

of the aisle? I'm a Democrat. I'm

48:02

a , I've been a Democrat, my

48:04

entire voting history, if you will, in terms

48:07

of , uh, you know, identifying,

48:09

voting and democratic primaries and such, but,

48:12

you know, I can't tell anybody

48:14

what their political identity has

48:16

to be. I don't get into that debate.

48:19

I get into the fact that you've got

48:21

to know who you're voting for, what

48:24

you're voting for and make sure that's

48:26

aligned with your interests. And when I say,

48:28

make sure that's aligned with your interests , really

48:30

make sure it's aligned in terms of policy

48:32

outcomes. If somebody says

48:35

to you, I am someone

48:37

who supports black lives matter. The next question

48:39

is, well, how, and it's not,

48:42

you know, the answer can't be slogans

48:44

is my point. And I'm not suggesting that

48:46

black lives matter is a slogan, but the

48:48

vague more vague someone

48:51

is the less clear you are about

48:53

who they are and what they represented , who you're voting

48:55

for it . And it's contingent upon us

48:58

as a public to get more informed

49:00

about these candidates. Information

49:02

is available. The legal women voters puts

49:05

out , voters puts out information

49:08

websites of the candidates. You can get a copy of

49:10

the sample ballots for the candidates

49:12

from the County. Before you go vote, you can

49:14

study them. You could talk to people that, you know,

49:16

in politics. Let me tell you, I get

49:19

inundated with people, ask me,

49:21

should I vote for this person who should have awful

49:23

? Well , you know, and I don't send out a slate

49:25

of endorsed candidates, but what I, you know, I'm

49:27

happy to talk to people cause I want them to be informed.

49:30

So talking to people, well, what does that, what

49:32

do you think, you know, in terms

49:34

of those that, you know, are informed

49:36

or who are very active in doing the research

49:39

and do research yourself, especially

49:41

now, I mean, we're in such

49:43

a, a time in which

49:46

the substance is so critical and

49:48

we've been lied on substance in the past

49:50

in terms of real focused on what people are

49:52

really saying versus like how they identify

49:55

or align. And if they're not, you

49:57

know, cutting the message , that's why primaries are

49:59

important. You know, you're like, well, I don't

50:01

really like the candidate that came that

50:04

that's being presented in a general one. So will

50:06

, did you vote in the primary? And a

50:08

lot of people don't vote in primaries because they're

50:10

like, I'm not that big of a, you know, political

50:12

person, they'll say I'm not that political. It's

50:15

not about how political you are. It's about

50:17

making sure you promote the candidate that

50:19

you really want to see on the general ballot. You

50:21

know, we had that problem at 16 where people were like , ah,

50:24

you know, I don't know if I want a boat and it's not

50:26

who I to pick my candidate in

50:28

a , or I didn't see who I wanted . Okay,

50:31

you got that. And

50:33

that's when you, and then people stayed at home.

50:36

That's not the answer. We better

50:38

be showing out in record, low numbers.

50:40

Let me say this again. If Colvin and

50:44

George Flores murder and the aftermath, it

50:46

hasn't been enough evidence of

50:49

how significant it is and

50:51

how much leadership matters. I

50:53

don't know what else to say. I mean, we

50:55

literally seen our

50:57

economy come to a halt. We have seen

50:59

a public health crisis turn

51:02

into something. It did not have any

51:04

business turning into. I mean,

51:06

I'm looking at all the countries. We

51:08

can't go to as Americans right

51:10

now because we can't get it together

51:13

on COVID because we wanted to pretend

51:15

that Kobe wasn't real because we

51:17

didn't feel like dealing with it anymore. That's

51:19

not leadership. We know that,

51:22

but it has real consequences.

51:24

It's been so ingrained in us. This

51:27

notion of it just doesn't matter.

51:29

My vote doesn't matter. Do you know how many times I hear that?

51:32

My boy doesn't matter. They all the same. No,

51:35

they are not all the same. You hear me clapping,

51:37

right? They are

51:39

not all the same. And while

51:42

it may not be the ideal candidate

51:44

in your mind, that makes sure you

51:46

not boating is a statement

51:49

and has implications. And we

51:51

have lived through that for

51:53

the last four years. And especially

51:56

if you don't want your, you want to see your loved

51:58

ones again, I don't know about you,

52:00

but I'd like to see my friends and my family

52:02

again, you know, I mean, who

52:05

ever imagined we would be living in these

52:07

kinds of situations and conditions,

52:10

but that is an illustration now no,

52:12

the president did not create COBIT. The problem

52:15

is the president could not manage

52:17

the public health crisis stemming

52:19

from it. And that is where

52:21

leadership that's correct.

52:24

You have hap you have to put people

52:26

in the role who can do the job.

52:28

And again, it's not to be

52:30

taken lightly. Not only is your

52:33

wife in literally in their hands, but

52:35

the whole nation, our future, the trajectory,

52:38

your kids, their quality

52:40

of education. I don't know about you,

52:42

but I heard a lot of my friends whose kids, they

52:44

said , well, this semester was a wash. And

52:47

you know, you don't want your kids not getting educated

52:50

appropriately. And so,

52:52

And what's funny is like, well, it's not funny. What's

52:54

tragic is that they're going

52:57

to be a semester or a year behind just

53:00

because we could manage this public

53:02

health price as

53:04

, as a black woman. What

53:07

the kava

53:09

Harris, me too

53:12

. I

53:17

want to frame this in the biggest way possible.

53:19

What does it mean for Camila

53:22

Harris to be a candidate

53:25

or the vice president of the United

53:27

States?

53:29

I am over the moon that

53:32

we are finally going to have

53:34

this historic moment to

53:36

break a glass ceiling. I'm telling

53:39

you it is so exciting

53:41

to me to be able for a little girls

53:44

for young women or men,

53:47

you know, mid age , middle age women, to

53:49

be able to have the hope that

53:51

just by virtue of their

53:53

race and their gender, that

53:56

they aren't necessarily going

53:58

to be excluded from

54:00

an opportunity like that. Now it

54:02

isn't just that there won't be barriers.

54:05

You know, I know a lot of people said after president

54:07

Obama got elected, we're in post

54:10

racial society and there no racism,

54:13

no ,

54:14

That did not happen.

54:15

There was a response and it was a very,

54:18

very strong response, right?

54:20

And so we know that this doesn't

54:23

mean that there will no longer

54:25

be barriers, but yesterday

54:28

or recently, we , we just , uh , had

54:30

, um, uh , black

54:33

women's equal pay day. And

54:35

we're facing in listening to

54:38

the disparities in terms of how

54:40

much a woman makes compared to

54:42

a white male, a black woman makes compared

54:44

to a white male counterpart the disparities.

54:47

We can have a focus on reducing some

54:50

of that disparity, the hope

54:52

that someone can aspire to

54:54

be in the white house to,

54:56

to be vice-president to be president. I

54:58

mean, one of the things that was heartbreaking

55:00

after the 2016

55:03

cycle was, do you know

55:05

how a number of us

55:07

who are women in politics felt in

55:09

terms of, you know, people

55:12

believing that we weren't

55:14

electable and by

55:16

virtue of nothing else, but

55:19

by virtue of nothing substantive,

55:21

other than who we were as human

55:23

beings, how we, how you know , our anatomy

55:26

, um, same thing goes for race.

55:28

We know what that injustice feels like

55:30

and how and how it's wrong. And

55:32

so in this moment, it's,

55:35

it's just such a wonderful time

55:38

to get behind an opportunity

55:40

to break a glass ceiling, make

55:43

history, open doors, and keep

55:45

those doors open for generations

55:47

to come. That's the key piece of it.

55:49

It's an opportunity to open a door

55:52

and swing it wide open and

55:54

bring as many people with us as possible.

55:57

And it's an inspire people

55:59

instead of living. And there's a space of what

56:01

is not possible into believing

56:04

what is possible. And that's when you get your very

56:06

best out of people. It's when they begin to believe

56:08

in the possibilities of life versus

56:11

what they focus on, what's impossible

56:14

or what has not been possible to date.

56:17

Um, and so that's so

56:19

exciting to me. I think it's going to represent

56:22

a shift. You know, people underestimate

56:25

the significance

56:28

of the tone

56:31

and culture of society,

56:33

right? Like you just think that's kind of more

56:36

of a superficial, a

56:38

way of thinking about leadership, but just

56:41

the fact that you have , uh

56:43

, an administration being

56:45

built upon what is possible

56:48

and opening possibilities and expanding

56:50

possibilities, as opposed to limiting

56:53

them and dividing us, that will go

56:55

a long way into what

56:58

people, what you know, in building that

57:00

human capital and people. And

57:02

I think you've got to build, you've got to do your,

57:04

your bricks and mortar, your physical capital,

57:07

which you've got to build and invest in humans.

57:10

And I think by breaking these glass

57:12

ceiling, this glass ceiling in this way

57:14

is a huge way to begin to do that.

57:17

And I think she can be extremely valuable

57:19

in a lot of what we need to get accomplished.

57:22

And I've got a whole agenda for 2021

57:25

in terms of what I want to see accomplished

57:27

in light of what we have come across

57:30

with this moment stemming

57:32

from George Floyd's murder. And people's

57:34

heightened awareness about how that ties

57:36

to the economy and let's get

57:38

this stuff rolled out, must get it, let's get these

57:40

policies through. And I don't mean

57:42

just let's push for them, let's have a deliverable.

57:45

And so having someone with convening

57:47

power in that way, who is

57:50

representative of, of,

57:53

of black women, but also the

57:55

broader community, but understands a lot

57:57

of those nuanced issues is so, so

58:00

impactful and , and, and going to be

58:02

important. I think in the work that we have to do

58:05

And it's good stuff. It seems

58:07

just as a general thing that you

58:09

think that with

58:12

regards to what happened with George Florida,

58:14

so much of this has to

58:16

do with the economic

58:18

policy of the country before we

58:20

close. I just, could you flesh that,

58:23

that thought out why you think that has

58:25

a big , uh , role

58:28

to play in what we saw, what happened? Cause

58:30

we don't always make that connection.

58:32

If you go all the way back to slavery,

58:35

slavery was predicated

58:38

and , and issues of racism, but also

58:40

economics, right? Like if they go

58:42

in tandem and so you

58:44

have, it's not just a matter

58:47

of oppressing a community just

58:49

by the color of students. Also making sure they remain

58:51

oppressed in terms of opportunity

58:53

available to them. Um,

58:55

and that economics is, is

58:57

key to that is central. So how

58:59

, you know the racism of slavery, it

59:02

was that you had people who were in bondage,

59:04

who weren't getting paid for their library. Then

59:06

after you stepped out of slavery, then you had

59:08

people who were sharecropping not getting paid,

59:11

what they should have been being paid or people who

59:13

were returned to people

59:16

who were returned to plantations. You

59:18

have a situation where the

59:20

deprivation of opportunity

59:22

then leads to a number of different

59:25

, uh, challenges. And so

59:27

some of that relates to, you

59:29

know, communities of poverty and who's

59:32

central in those communities is black and Brown

59:34

people who live in those communities

59:36

of poverty and that's the community

59:39

that's being , uh, viewed as

59:41

, uh , the problem. And so when,

59:43

when the law enforcement officer goes there,

59:46

there's not necessarily the community policing

59:48

that is needed, but instead

59:50

of view that, where am I going to find my suspect,

59:52

who committed the crime across town? And

59:55

so that's the lens through which

59:57

that interaction is taking place.

1:00:00

And a lot of these instances, and that's

1:00:02

when you get the run ins and the police

1:00:04

brutality, because you've also got these

1:00:07

communities that are M

1:00:09

are also mired and Martin

1:00:12

poverty because of systemic,

1:00:14

lack of economic opportunities.

1:00:17

Um, and so it all, it's a complicated

1:00:19

web that is very much tied

1:00:21

together. Doesn't mean

1:00:23

that you have to be impoverished to

1:00:26

be discriminated against. Um, we

1:00:28

know that by the racial profiling, that

1:00:30

happens to somebody from

1:00:32

the highest class to the lowest class

1:00:35

based on race as an indicator

1:00:37

that, you know, something is wrong,

1:00:39

they don't belong here, but it doesn't

1:00:41

stop at race. It's , it's , it's also

1:00:44

further complicated by issues

1:00:46

of the economy and economics and opportunity

1:00:49

and the lack thereof, and how do you continue

1:00:52

to, to , uh, limit

1:00:54

access to people. And so if

1:00:56

you can open up access in terms of economic

1:00:58

opportunity, you don't rid yourself of racism

1:01:01

and you don't rid yourself of police brutality,

1:01:03

but you certainly begin to

1:01:05

begin to allow people to have more

1:01:08

of a chance to have , uh

1:01:10

, uh, realize their potential

1:01:12

in the community or for, for their

1:01:14

lives. And , you know, the education

1:01:17

is also tied into that very intimately,

1:01:19

right? Because that it's often

1:01:22

been said is it's the great equalizer

1:01:24

when you can actually provide equal educational

1:01:27

opportunities. And that is in fact part

1:01:29

and also wrapped into,

1:01:32

you know, impoverished communities and

1:01:34

the tax base, and that support

1:01:36

their schools versus the next person schools

1:01:38

that are supported by higher economic means

1:01:41

it all wraps up together. And so

1:01:43

when we can provide our small businesses,

1:01:46

for example, I use this one opportunity

1:01:48

to talk about, you know, when we actually begin

1:01:50

to really provide more access to

1:01:53

capital for our small businesses, our barbershop,

1:01:56

or our , you know, in the community

1:01:58

that is employing members of the community in

1:02:00

the neighborhood. And you really start to open up capital

1:02:03

for them so that they can begin to build

1:02:06

something for their family. And then that

1:02:08

trickles into the community more broadly. Then

1:02:10

you begin to, to reduce

1:02:12

or lessen some of the implications

1:02:15

that have historically prevented

1:02:17

us from being successful. I think

1:02:19

also, you know, we saw it with the PBB

1:02:21

loans , um, who was getting

1:02:23

access to loans and who it's not, we've

1:02:26

got to, this is, this is a common

1:02:28

place all the time. Uh , minority business

1:02:31

owners in some cases have been

1:02:33

as high as three times as likely to

1:02:35

gain access to traditional forms of capital

1:02:37

that are now a minority, but counterparts, you have to get

1:02:39

told no three times more

1:02:42

than the next person. So how many times is a business

1:02:45

gonna fold? If they have to get three times

1:02:47

the number of rejections and just keep going.

1:02:50

And th those are some of the things that I think

1:02:52

in my mind are low hanging fruits that

1:02:55

we actually can reach. And especially in a moment

1:02:57

when people's heightened sense of awareness

1:03:00

is where it is, but we've got

1:03:02

to have strong leadership pushing for these

1:03:04

things and be relentless about these

1:03:06

things. And then we've got to have our allies say,

1:03:09

I'm going to get involved in picking up the phone

1:03:12

and, and just, you know, and

1:03:14

, and making sure to apply pressure, look at what's

1:03:16

happening with the NFL, right? It

1:03:18

has to it when it was just

1:03:20

Colin Kaepernick and taking his

1:03:22

knee or in , in a few others

1:03:24

taking the knee, it wasn't enough.

1:03:26

It wasn't until others in the

1:03:28

mainstream began to feel like

1:03:31

his , his ballot , his stance should

1:03:34

have been validated that in that pressure

1:03:36

started to come from the outside and from

1:03:39

the mainstream. Did

1:03:41

you know, you begin to hear statements change

1:03:44

and not, you know, and , and corporations,

1:03:48

the corporate partners, people saying, I'm going

1:03:50

to pull out of this. If I don't see that

1:03:52

that's how the world works. So we got

1:03:54

to bring all our players on

1:03:56

board, our stakeholders

1:03:59

who are community activists, who've been out

1:04:01

there doing the hard work all these years

1:04:03

being ignored. We need them at the table,

1:04:05

but we also need to bring our corporations

1:04:07

to the table and said , who are you going to pick up a phone and call?

1:04:10

And we've got to have an agenda. That's

1:04:12

clear, a very clear agenda,

1:04:15

our legislators, who are willing to push it,

1:04:17

a executive who will help

1:04:19

to set this table that

1:04:21

will be clear that will really provide

1:04:23

economic opportunity for all people. And so when

1:04:26

we look back at this time in this moment

1:04:28

of COVID, we don't just see it as a time

1:04:30

of failed leadership. We also look

1:04:32

back at this moment as the beginning of

1:04:35

correcting a lot of the wrongs that were

1:04:37

systemic and deep in our society revolving

1:04:40

around race and economic opportunities.

1:04:42

And so many other issues,

1:04:45

Man, that's, that's such a good word. And you've , you've

1:04:48

got me thinking about just

1:04:50

his profile. He went

1:04:52

to Yates as a high school

1:04:55

, uh, which

1:04:57

is now historically well, which is

1:04:59

now under performing . I don't know about

1:05:01

back then grew up in third

1:05:03

ward in the bottom , went

1:05:06

to Minneapolis because he

1:05:08

was looking for an

1:05:10

opportunity to develop

1:05:13

himself. And so he was literally there with

1:05:15

a church work program that was developing

1:05:18

him to be a

1:05:20

truck driver so that he could come back. And

1:05:22

as I think about all these things, and I'm hearing

1:05:25

what you're having to say, I mean,

1:05:27

I'm having a piffy , that's up that a

1:05:29

lot of this is would he

1:05:31

have been in this position, if

1:05:34

not for the lack of

1:05:36

opportunity in his life.

1:05:39

And it may be the difference

1:05:41

between him

1:05:43

that happening to him and me sitting

1:05:45

here. I mean, you know, as a black

1:05:47

man of, you know, he's

1:05:49

a little older than me, but, you know, I

1:05:52

, I'm just realizing that it's got a lot

1:05:54

to do with the economic opportunity.

1:05:56

And I'm glad that you brought that up . I want

1:05:58

to give you the last word. Um,

1:06:01

how does your faith

1:06:05

inform , uh

1:06:07

, your vision for your life as

1:06:10

a public servant?

1:06:11

I think for me, you

1:06:14

know, you , you , you gotta rely

1:06:16

on her strength that stems

1:06:18

or emanates from outside of yourself.

1:06:20

And so for me, it's my

1:06:22

faith in God. It allows me

1:06:25

to have perspective,

1:06:27

you know, in terms of my purpose,

1:06:30

why I'm here, I want to be

1:06:32

used in a way that

1:06:34

impacts and improves the

1:06:37

community. I live in the community around

1:06:39

me, the community as a whole. I think

1:06:41

that's what, why had so

1:06:43

many opportunities along my

1:06:45

journey that my, you know, my opportunities,

1:06:48

I don't believe, you know, God's,

1:06:50

you know, extended

1:06:52

those opportunities to meet so that I would keep

1:06:55

them for myself for my own

1:06:57

comfort. So I think that's why

1:06:59

I found myself oftentimes getting in

1:07:01

spaces where out in spaces, where I had

1:07:03

comfort and into spaces who are not as

1:07:05

comfortable , um, because

1:07:08

I don't think that's why I'm here. Um,

1:07:10

and so I think staying clear about

1:07:13

what your purpose is, and then of course drawing

1:07:16

upon his strength in his, in

1:07:18

his will, of course, as opposed

1:07:20

to your own. And sometimes that can be confusing,

1:07:23

right? We've got to listen. And

1:07:25

I think just drawing upon that, strengthen

1:07:28

that faith, faith is so critical

1:07:30

at a time where you don't see a light, you

1:07:32

know, you don't know how long you going to be

1:07:34

in a Valley. We don't , you know, here, you

1:07:36

know, you, sometimes you don't

1:07:38

know, and you having

1:07:40

that faith that, that

1:07:43

it's his will, and that in asking

1:07:45

for the strength to do what is

1:07:48

needed from you in that, in that

1:07:50

time of Valley, I

1:07:52

think is important. And I think a

1:07:54

lot of people right now

1:07:56

in the midst of COVID have had to rely

1:07:58

very firmly on that faith . Um

1:08:01

, and it's not always about being a good

1:08:03

, uh, you know, a good disciple

1:08:06

is when things are going well, sometimes

1:08:08

they're not gonna go well, you just it's , it

1:08:10

doesn't your path doesn't mean that it is

1:08:12

not going to be Rocky. And,

1:08:15

and so having that faith, but

1:08:17

also relying on him for the strength

1:08:19

. I think, you know, it's not

1:08:21

just , uh , you know, you

1:08:23

have to get recharged with

1:08:25

that strength, every nude with that renewed

1:08:27

spirit. And so , uh, I

1:08:29

think it's really, really important for me

1:08:32

and for many others, that,

1:08:34

that are people of faith to

1:08:37

really draw upon trial upon

1:08:39

that in a time where they may

1:08:41

have some doubts about where things are,

1:08:43

where they're going, that's the town where you,

1:08:46

you really hunkered down into that

1:08:48

faith and, and get closer and listen.

1:08:51

And sometimes these trying to communicate

1:08:53

a lesson, you just have to be willing to listen

1:08:55

to it,

1:08:58

Man, Amanda

1:09:00

K. Edwards, thank you for your time. And

1:09:02

I know you've got a lot on

1:09:04

the horizon things. We talked about,

1:09:07

things we haven't talked about. So

1:09:09

I look forward to what God is going to do and give

1:09:11

to you.

1:09:12

Thank you. And thank you for extending this

1:09:14

platform. I'm really grateful to

1:09:16

have had an opportunity to be here .

1:09:19

It was my pleasure. [inaudible]

1:09:34

.