April 7, 2025 • 38 mins
Today's special guest is A.R. Shaw , Executive Editor for the Atlanta Daily World.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here at the Black Information Network, we know how important
it is for you to start your week off energized, engaged,
and enlightened. There are always major stories that break over
the weekend, and we feel you should know about the
ones we are talking about today, So stay tuned for
our weekend recap featuring the author of the book Trap
History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Shaw.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast. I'm your host,
ramses Jah and i am your host Qward. All Right,
mister A. Rshaw, welcome back to the show. Uh Man,
we've missed you, We always miss you, but really excited
to have a conversation with you today.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Man, what's the latest? All right, everything's good this way.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Just give a few technical difficulties, but it's always good
to be back.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Okay, all right, we're working through them together. That's all right.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, let's hurry up and get this news laid down
before we have any more technical difficulties. So first up,
we're going to share from the source. Ex NFL wide
receiver Antonio Brown is offering refunds to donors who contributed
to a GoFundMe campaign that raised over eighty thousand dollars
for a Georgia man recently charged with child deprivation. The
fundraiser was initially launched by Brown in support of Chris Lewis,
(01:13):
who left his three children, ages ten, six, and one
alone at a McDonald's indoor play area in Augusta, Georgia,
on March twenty second. According to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office,
Lewis claimed he was heading to a job interview, but
investigators later confirmed that no such interview was scheduled. Lewis
was arrested and charged with misdemeanor deprivation of a child.
(01:34):
In the wake of his arrest, Brown launched the fundraising
campaign with the intention of helping the Lewis family. Several
prominent figures contributed, including Brown himself of one thousand, eighty
four dollars, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreet Herb straight I believe
maybe you guys know how to pronounce that better than
I do, is listed giving one thousand dollars, and YouTuber
Chris Swaggy C Williams donated two thousand dollars, but his
(01:56):
new details of the incident emerged. Brown disabled to go
fund me and froze the funds, saying money would remain
on hold while he assesses whether it's truly going toward
a good cause. Donors can request a refund directly through GoFundMe,
or follow Antonio Brown's instructions, which he says will be
shared through his official social media channels. So for those
(02:17):
that have been following this story, you know, you may
know this already, but for those who hadn't just heard about,
you know, the gentleman who left his children at the
McDonald's with the job interview, this might be a bit
of a shock. So you know, talk to us, amir,
give us a little bit more insight into this story,
and you know Antonio Brown's reversal.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Yeah, so this case actually, you know, it happened in Georgia,
up the road in Augusta, which is about an hour
away from from Atlanta. And you know, we kind of,
you know, we kind of got the story a bit
before it broke national. Okay, you know, just from a
from a local standpoint, a lot of people were pretty
much saying, okay, Initially they thought that this was kind
(02:59):
of shedding a light on the discrepancies of you know,
parents having to low you know, low, low income households,
struggle to find daycare and a struggle to find support.
You know, a lot of people just don't have that support,
whether it be from friends, family members, or just don't
have the financial means to get a babysitter. And so
(03:23):
initially there was a lot of empathy, a lot of
people just you know, wanted to reach out and help.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
It broke national, you know, thanks to social media.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Antonio Brown picked it up, and you know it's I
think they gained over like eighty thousand dollars within within
a few days with people just you know, you know,
giving their support and you know, you know, once we
found out, well, the police in Augusta pretty much gave
an account that's very different from what was initially told
(03:54):
in terms of Chris going to uh, you know, going
to a job interview. They said that he had went
to drop off some book bag and it took like
over two hours. And so, you know a lot of
people right now just confused. They're trying to figure out
what should be done next, because if they're if you know,
this family is struggling financially, should this money still go
(04:16):
to the kids and in any form of fashion where
they be you know, in some form of scholarship or
some form of daycare, you know, so you know, we
don't want the kids to have to pay for this
father's mistake if a mistake was made. So a lot
of people are really confused about this whole thing.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
But I think it did shit shd some type of
light on.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Fathers, and you know, because it initially people thought he
was a single father and so but it just sheds
a light on just how low income families they have
an issue with daycare and support when it comes to
raising kids.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Absolutely, absolutely, Cube, I know you have some thoughts on this,
So I think this is one of those both things
can be true stories, okay, where this might be a
family that is in a low income situation and the
dad might also be a little bit irresponsible, and Liker
said that children have to suffer either way.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
If there was some way that there could be, like a.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
Treasurer or some type of manager of those funds that
were raised that could make sure those kids get what
they need and not just give a big chunk of
money to a dad who might not do all the
right things with it, and that might not even be
because he doesn't want to. Sometimes people just don't have
the financial know how, don't know how to get financial instruments,
and don't know how to take a big chunk of
(05:37):
money and you know, make it something that could sustain
over a long amount of time. So, yeah, it's a
hard story to follow because there are so many facts
that we don't know. I read in one report that
this is something that this father does all the time,
drops these kids off somewhere and just bounces to go
handle whatever business he has to handle and lets the
(05:59):
you know, the restaurant watch the kids, or lets the
kids watch themselves by activity. But it doesn't mean that
they are not in you know, dire straits financially and
couldn't use some help. So, you know, if there's a
solution that involves being able to have that money go
to things that could benefit those kids, not just with childcare,
(06:22):
but with schooling, with school supplies, with food, with you
know whatever, I think that would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I think ar is onto something.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, yeah, I think you're both right, and I think
what you said about there being you know, two things
true at the same time. You know, that makes all
the sense in the world.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
You know.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
One of the things that I've learned to do being
in the position that you know we've been in these
past few years, que, is that I try to imagine
what a person would do if their financial circumstances were different,
(07:00):
were improved. Right, Because most of the things that we cover,
they have this root, they're rooted somehow in economic inequalities, right.
And you know, it's easy for us to see because
we've been trained to see, Oh, these people have more melanin,
and all the bad stuff happens over there. These people
have less melanin, all the good stuff happens over here.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's just kind of the binary that we've kind of
been conditioned to observe in the world, and so it
appears that way, but often enough it's a little bit
closer aligned with these people have resources versus these people
that don't. You know what I mean, These people don't
because you know, there's plenty of cases of people, regardless
(07:45):
of what race they are, where they could be considered
negligent because they're doing the best that they can with
what they have. And I'm not apologizing for this gentleman
for anybody. But if those people, let's pick a trailer
park family, right, if they had more money and like
(08:07):
you said, a little bit more knowledge, or they grew
up with money, or they had, you know, an education
that allowed them to really make the most of you know,
working and taking advantage of what little resources they may
have had throughout their life. Then a lot of the
(08:28):
things that they end up a lot of the pitfalls
they end up falling into, don't happen, right, And that
would be true regardless of race, or regardless of whatever,
of culture or whatever, because my belief is that, you know,
everyone loves their children, wants the best for their children,
and so forth, and you don't end up in a
predicament like this unless you feel somehow that that's your
(08:49):
only option. If you had enough money to buy a
babysitter or pay for a babysitter, you would, if you
had enough money for daycare, you put your kids in Dacre.
You wouldn't just leave met a McDonald's. So when you
look at it through that lens, it feels like, like, Okay,
this is another this is an extension of a crime
of poverty, except because the people that affects the most
are the children. It's like, okay, well, at a point
(09:10):
we have to kind of draw a line at a point.
We have to be sort of responsible. And you know,
the truth of the matter is that the gentleman was
at a job interview that day. It just was earlier
in the day, and he used that as the excuse
to tell the police. And because that's what came in
the report, like he kind of like fudged his timeline
a little bit, because that's what came out in the report,
that's what ended up, you know, catching on nationwide. And
(09:35):
then of course all of us are looking at that like, Okay,
he's a single father on a job interview, has no
money for you know, a babysitter. Let's give all of
our money to this guy. And then when it turns
out that, you know, as a Mirr pointed out, he
was trying to return a backpack or something with a backpacker,
which sounds fishy and it might be. But you know,
(09:55):
we know people that hustle, they sell DVD well back
in the day, they used to debt whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I don't know Skuy's story. I wouldn't profess to. But
my belief is that I know what people that hurt
children look like, and I know what people who lack
the resources to take care of their children the way
they would like to look like, and oftentimes those are
very different. You know, sometimes there's certainly some overlap. But
I haven't found anything here that suggested he's gone out
(10:24):
of his way to hurt his children. Rather, i've seen
him be irresponsible, We'll say that first and foremost. And
i've seen him be, you know, a poor person. There's
and again maybe that is me being an apologist for him,
but I'm not trying to be.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I just kind of can.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I grew up poor, So I've been in circumstances whereas, okay,
this is not ideal, but if we were rich, we
wouldn't be here anyway. And that's not to I know,
I'm going on. That's not to say that that should
be the only deciding factor, but I do recognize when
you're caught between a rock and a hard place, you
make tough decisions. And that's true of anybody of any
race and so forth. And so that's that's as much
as I got from it. So yeah, don't believe it
(11:03):
right there. Next up this from iHeart dot com. New
York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he is leaving the
Democratic Party and will run for reelection as an independent
candidate following the dismissal of his corruption case this week. Quote,
I've always put New York's people before politics and party,
and I always will. I am running for mayor in
the general election because our city needs independent leadership that
(11:23):
understands working people. This is according to a lengthy post
on his ex account, and of course went on to
share a video. He claimed that his recently dismissed criminal
case dragged on too long, there were false accusations that
were held over him, and they were prohibiting him from
campaign for reelection. Speculation over whether Adams would remain with
(11:45):
the party grew as several serious challengers in the Democratic
primary emerged, including former New York Governor Andrew Cromo. Running
as an independent candidate would allow Adams to skip directly
to the November general election, allowing him more time to
campaign after having faced the now dismissed corruption case uh
this The decision will, however, distance Adams from New York
(12:06):
City's heavily democratic electorate and party organization, which could weaken
his chances of re election and what has already been
a controversial tenure. So strange move, you know, long term
but I guess in the short run, you know, that's
that's probably what he feels he has to do.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Here A thought TIERM.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Here, Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
I'm not really surprised by this. I mean, we we see,
we see how the current presidential administration pretty much helped
with this corruption case. And now I think this is
I think for him in terms of financing, I think
he wants to get more Republican donors in its next
in this next election. So there wasn't there wasn't a
(12:50):
path from I just don't think the Democrat going remaining
it as a Democrat wasn't going to help him.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, And I think.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
He he he sees that, you know, with this assist
this assistant from from uh the presidential administration, going as
an independent, it's almost like finding a loophole.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
And but I think I think he's gonna backfire.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
I don't, you know, I don't think his Republican support
is going to be strong enough to get him through.
And then without the Democrat, the Democratic support in New York,
it's just I think it's really like an uphill battle
for him.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Yeah, in terms of a re election, Yeah, I can see,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I think loophole is the key word.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Yeah, right, when he got in trouble, he ran to
then be black again. Let black people back me up.
If he goes full Republican, he know he completely loses that.
He can't stay Democrat because he has partnered himself and
aligned himself with the current administration, so the only choice
he had was to be an independent. He thinks that
he can play both sides of the of the of
(13:57):
the aisle that way. But I think l like Amir said,
I think he just weakens his chances at re election,
as if he didn't do that enough just by being
in office. His support of stopping frisk, this massive scandalous
case that he was just dealing with, and everybody recognizing
that he got an assist from some higher powers. He
(14:21):
didn't beat this case because a thorough investigation was done
and he proved to be, you know, cleaning above board.
He used the same tools that those who he aligned
himself with use to keep themselves out of trouble. Interesting
to see how this plays out though, because trying him
best to his trying his best to remain aligned with
(14:43):
people that look like us. And I noticed that when
when Reverend Sharpner was on the Breakfast Club, he seemed
a little torn as to whether he was going to
continue to support Mayor Adams as well.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So we'll see how this plays out. Yeah, I could
see that.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
You know, I far be it for me to say
that Democrats are free from corruption, because there's a lot
of things that I mean, politics in total is.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Dicky.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
But I think that corruption certainly has a softer place
to land on the right than it does on the left.
So now that you know he's associated with, you know,
corruption and all that sort of stuff, as a Democrat
would beat, you know, like over on the on the left,
(15:38):
people tend to hold their politicians a little bit more accountable,
at least relatively speaking, and at least over the past
you know, eight years or so.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
So yeah, yeah, we.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Still have the impression that we elected them and they
should work for us. Not yeah, there you are not
We are them, and we tattoo them and wear their
shirts and decorate our high House in their pictures, and
like we don't worship them.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah that you said it way better than I could.
Speaker 7 (16:06):
Black Black, Yeah, Feasts of the Planet. I go by
the name of Charlamagne of God, and I can't wait
to see y'all at the third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
That's Right, Yeah, number three.
Speaker 7 (16:15):
Baby Black Called Black Rose More Black Ceyo were coming
back to Pullman Yard Saturday for twenty six in Atlanta,
hosted by none other than Mandy B and Weezy. That's Right, Decisions, Decisions.
The Black Effect is bringing some of the biggest and
best podcasts in the world to.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
The stage or one day only. Ready.
Speaker 7 (16:32):
We got the R and B Money Podcast with Tanking
Jay Valentine. We got the Woman of All Podcasts with
Saray Jake Roberts, Good Mom's Bad Choices, neckd.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Sports with Carrie Champion, and the.
Speaker 7 (16:42):
Trap Nerds podcast with more to be announced. And of
course it's bigger than podcasts. We're bringing the Black Effect
marketplace with black owned businesses, plus the food truck court
to keep you fed while you visit us. All right,
if all my aspiring podcasters, we got something for you too.
You know, we got informative panels and you can go
to the career corners with exclusive one on one time
with industry leaders. Tickets on sale now tap into at
(17:03):
Black Effect dot Com Flash Podcast Festival.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Today's guest is the author of the book trap History
and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Shaw all Right. Next up Total Pro Sports.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Donald Trump's mission to rid the United States of foreign
criminal elements has seen former NBA superstar Michael Jordan's strangely
dragged into an unwonted spot. Since returning to office, the
President has gone on a deportation rampage, seeing numerous residents
off to their countries of origin.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
As such.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Of Venezuelan Gang, referred to as Trend de Arragua or TDA,
has been listed as an alien enemy by the Trump administration,
with twenty categories being placed on a checklist to help
immigration officials determine whether nationals of the South American country
belong to the group. Various tattoos, including AK forty seven's
and the real Hasta la Muerte quote, have been identified
(18:01):
as some of those worn by TDA members. White Surprisingly,
Jordan's jump Man logo has also been added to the
Alien Enemy Validation Guide, where it pertains too said gang.
The logo is not the only thing under scrutiny Chicago
Bulls Jersey, specifically Jordan's number twenty three, as well as
Jordan and Jumpman sneakers have also been deemed as identifiers
(18:21):
of TDA gang members.
Speaker 8 (18:23):
How about that, all right? Uh a mirror, it's your
ball go.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So initially this sounds like a reach. It sounds like
a reach.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
But you know what, So I'm gonna but I'm gonna
I'm going to kind of backtrack. I'm not gonna make
I'm not gonna say that this connection is totally false.
I think this one is a reach, but I'm gonna
give you I'm gonna give some information. So there are
certain gangs that that do affiliate certain sets with professional teams.
(19:05):
You know, that's you know, that's happening for years. You know,
the Philadelphia Phillies. I'm not going to name the gang,
but it's a prominent LA gang that used the Philadelphia
Phillies logo as as an identifier. So I'm not gonna
I'm not gonna say that this doesn't happen. But because
this administration has done such a poor job of this
(19:28):
entire deportation, uh, I guess you know, campaign, I'm going
to say that this is a reach.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I mean we've seen that. You know.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Of course, there's a judge who basically said that they've
deported several people illegally and that they actually have to
try to get these people back to the United States.
And so it's just like this, this administration is doing
a lot of wrong things, doing a lot of things
that's that's just you know, insane.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
We just have to really call it out. It just
doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
But we're watching this unfold in real time, and I
think this is just another reach by this administration, and
this entire de deportation campaign is just it's a farce.
I mean, we've seen multiple times and multiple judges saying
that this is illegal and how they're going about it
is illegal. So I don't think this is going to
(20:21):
be the end, but I think this is just like
it shows you the incompetence of what we're witnessing right now.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Good gotta forgive me man.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
I laughed while you were reading that because it started
to sound like a Scottsdale nightclub dress code, like when
you said Jordan's and Geordan and jump out. I said, Okay,
this is just trying to keep us out the club
and Scott's sounds just like what we've been used to
for all these years. The part of this that's less
funny and the point that I've been trying to prove.
(20:54):
You know, we had a video, a video we did
on TikTok that has now been kind of retrofit for
every social media that's gotten close to ten million views,
and it's me talking about Donald Trump and you know,
his stance on immigration, deportation, ice raids, et cetera, and
(21:14):
how it feels to be a father of mixed children
of Mexican descent and what their lives could look like
under this administration. And you know, I avoid the comments
at all costs, but what happens when people co opt
the video and repost it is people see us and
then they tag us, because we're not tagged in the
video by the person that posted.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
It, end up in the response to that seeing all
these comments and I.
Speaker 6 (21:39):
Topically wouldn't typically wouldn't see and you know, shame on
you for having undocumented children was one of the comments,
which is not the truth. But my point was that
doesn't matter because even citizens are being deported.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
There's no checks and balances.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
These people think they can look at people and tell
they're bad people from how they look. And that's ridiculous
because the description the three men on this call fit
the description. Yeah, in a room with either of those
groups that they've identified as beneath or criminal or bad
or bad actors, or however they've deemed us in a
(22:20):
negative way or painted us in a negative way. And
if you put one of us or all three of
us in a room where everyone else is for that group,
we look just like that group. And that was my point,
not that my children are here illegally their citizens. My
point is that it doesn't matter when they've put you
in that crosshairs as an enemy, as a bad actor,
as a bad person, as a criminal, as an illegal,
(22:42):
or whatever. They're not coming with proper paperwork and proper procedure.
They're coming with license to be violently racist and to
displace people and put them in incredibly uncomfortable situations. So, yes,
we have a lawyer on retainer for my kids, but
you know what happens if I have to call that lawyer.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Something bad happened already.
Speaker 6 (23:04):
My children have already been round up and displaced and
somewhere where we can't just call them, and they can't
just call us, and we have to go through investigatory
measures to figure out where they are and how to
get to them, and then even then, this administration won't
admit that they're wrong, even when called out on blatant
illegal mistakes. They won't admit that they're wrong and then
put their hands up like, well, there's nothing we can
do now.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
So that's the point.
Speaker 6 (23:24):
It's not about them targeting bad people that are illegal.
It's that they've been able to put a blanket over
entire ethnicities and can run up and bash your windows
in and pull you out of your house with no
warrant because they have a license to do so from
the most powerful seat in our country.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
That's why I'm so upset. That's why I was so enraged.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
That's why I can't understand how you think I'm going
to be cool with you if you support him, when
that's the position that you've put me and my family in,
and you did it intentionally knowing that that's what this
man was going to do, because he said it. Were
okay with it as long as it wasn't my kids.
That's what you're going to try to convince me. So
if it was just kids that looked like mine, just
(24:07):
their classmates and their friends, that was fine. But no, Q,
we didn't mean that for you. And your family. So
it's just like, where does it stop. No checks and balances.
Even when they break the law or run a file
of the law, who's going to enforce it on them?
They get to go on TV and go on their
yachts and go to their golf club and act like
nothing's happening because nothing's happening to them. And this is
(24:30):
the world that we now live in because eighty million
people thought that was okay.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
And you know what I want to add to that
that that there's there's a I'm not saying anything new
to you, of course, but there's such a divide because
you know, where we get our news.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
We look at.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
The failures of this administration, especially when it comes to
this deportation initiative. You know, the failures in terms of
the numbers, the failures in terms of you know, they're
not being due process and they're not being checks and balances,
and so the wrong people are getting deported right, And
(25:12):
we are allowed to be very critical of those failures
because we don't believe that this strategy is empathetic. It
is not consistent with what the values we believe this
country stands for, on and on and on right, So
we're looking at the failures of this administration. But let's
(25:34):
say that they did actually end up deporting a handful
of people who were violent criminals that were in the system,
being afforded due process, so forth, and so on, and
it is proven beyond a doubt that they are indeed
bad actors from another country. On that side, they're all highlighted.
(25:57):
Look what the administration is doing getting rid of all
these violent, bad criminals. That it's document blah blah blah. Right,
So it you know, the news really does have a
role to play in that. You know, one side is
getting this this version of reality and the other side
is getting that version of reality. Right, So you know,
from where they sit, they don't play up the numbers.
So as far as they do, they know on that
(26:18):
side that Donald Trump is doing exactly what he said
he was going to do, right, and all these people
are bad and then they never hear about the mistakes,
or they might hear of course one or two. Yeah,
blah blah blah.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
The thing is like, so how about this.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
We have a a legal system in this country that
says you are innocent until proven guilty. Right, this is
a doctrine that this country espouses you are presumed innocent,
so forth and so on. Right, this administration has caused
half of the country to sort of adopt a very
(26:57):
different posture to guilt or innocence as long as the
person we're referring to is was not born in the
United States, or you can make a case that they
don't belong here. And of course the definition of who
doesn't belong here has grown since Trump has had, you know,
the national spotlight in politics. And so, you know, it's
(27:21):
a very interesting time, you know, to you know, to
back up with your hands is a very interesting time
to live in. And these are very interesting developments. And
the craziest part of the whole thing is that so
many people where Jordan's you know, so many people you know, like,
you know, I'm from California famously, and there are a
(27:44):
lot of Hispanic people in California, and there are a
lot of black people in California.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
And the truth is is that.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
If you look at Snoop Dogg and Doctor Dre and
all the early nineties hip hop and the late eighties
early nineties hip hop, and you saw them lowriders that
from Mexican people, right, And if you want to go
back further, you want to look at all the zoot
suits that Mexican and Chicano people used to wear when
they go out and party. That came from black people,
(28:14):
and that exchange has been happening for decades. Right and
we might we got we all got stuff to figure out,
but we do share a.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Lot of culture.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
And for Black people to wear Michael Jordan's clothes and
then for it to be adopted by Hispanic communities, and rightfully,
so you know, we exchange stuff back and forth. I
think this Jordan logo gives Ice and Donald Trump and
that administration license to strike. And then you know, literally
(28:48):
half of the country does not understand how this is
being abused, how it fundamentally opposes really the entirety of
what our legal system is built on. Or they just
don't care. And I suspect it's a good number of
people that don't care. And so, you know, point taken.
All right, Now for our final story, This from The
(29:09):
New York Post Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, an MSNBC
contributor and staunch critic of President Trump, said he's quitting
after owner Jeff Bezos. Bezos's significant shift in the paper's mission,
joining an exodus of journalists at the belagued broadsheet. Quote,
the announced significant shift in our selections mission, sorry in
(29:30):
our sections mission, has spurred me to decide that it's
time for my next chapter, quote, Robinson announced in a
memo to fellow staffers on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
He goes on to.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Say, I wish you nothing but the very best for
the paper and for all of you. I won't be
a stranger and I'll be reading your unparalleled work every
single day, So you know, I know that for you, amir,
this is kind of like right up your alley as
a journalist and as someone who's columns that we use
as source material for a lot of our programs. What's
your take on, you know, on this development at the
(30:04):
Washington Post.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
Yeah, journalism is in a scary place. I've been a
journalist for nineteen years, and throughout, you know, my career
as journalists, I've always felt that I could tell the truth,
and I never felt that there was ever going to
be an instance where I couldn't tell the truth. I mean,
(30:27):
that's our jobs. We're tasked with uncovering things, We're tasked
with calling out what's happening. And when you have a
prominent publication, a prominent publication, because I don't just say
that this is one publication that's doing this. Prominent publications
that's pretty much kneeling to this administration. That lets us
(30:51):
know that we're in a dangerous place, not just in media,
but in society, because if there's no checks and balances
from the media, then the administration can just basically do
what they want without being called out. Someone like you know,
Eugene Man, he's you know, he's a he's like almost
(31:12):
like the godfather, Like everybody in terms of black media,
black journalists, we all look up to him in terms
of what he's done, Like he's in I think he's
been in been around for all around like forty forty
five years. Uh so we've all, you know, looked up
to him in some form of fashion. It's just sad that,
you know, prominent media outlets are going in this direction.
(31:35):
And I think, I think years from now, we're gonna
we're gonna all see that this was a bad choice.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
It was a bad decision.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
To pretty much fall in line to someone who's as
we see it in real time, this person is pretty
much causing pain for the entire nation, not just one group,
one segment. I think, you know, you guys mentioned earlier
a lot of people thought that, you know, when they
voted for this person, that he gonna pretty much make
the lives words for everybody else for the others. Yeah,
(32:05):
and now the people who voted for him are singing
that they're getting that same pain too, whether it's financial,
whether it's family members, whether it's being laid off, and
so everyone is suffering right now in some form of fashion.
And it's just it's just a sad day when our
prominent you know, media outlets are basically kneeling and kissing
(32:29):
the ring to someone who's basically shown time and time
again that they're not worthy of being followed in any
form of fashion. So I just I just hate to
see that it's that that, you know, Eugenie had to
step away in this in this manner, given his history career,
and I know he's going to continue to to to
(32:50):
speak truth, and I hope that other journalists continue to
speak truth, regardless of what publicational outlet they're currently at.
Speaker 6 (32:58):
You know, I've said repeatedly that I fear at some
point in this country what we do will be illegal.
I've said that, straight faced, sober minded camera, because why
I'm paying attention at some point, I sincerely feel, especially
(33:21):
if this man is allowed to be the president for
a third time, that saying anything anti him will be illegal.
I think being anything but a straight Christian, rich white
man will be, if not on paper, legal, aggressively frowned
(33:44):
upon and kind of enforced as if it was being
critical of this administration. Being able to have your phone, computer,
social media plugged into to see if you've ever been
(34:06):
in critical love or said anything against the president being
something that they're starting to do to people that travel
I read about. You know, over the last couple of weeks,
it's getting really, really scary. And once again eighty million
people were okay with this as long as it didn't
affect them. Even if it affected because it kind of
(34:29):
removed solidarity in a lot of ways. You know, you
saw women voting for someone who's perceived as sexist. You
saw black and Hispanic people voting for someone who's perceived
as racist. You saw poor people voting for a billionaire.
You saw people voting against their own best interest directly
because they felt like proximity to this person or to
(34:52):
their beliefs, would keep them safe. I voted for them,
So it's not going to impact me, and I don't
care that it's going to impact everyone else, even people
that care about so what we hold sacred in this
space that we work in, and I've been very very
critical of our industry of not sounding the alarms. We
all saw this coming, all of us that are educated
(35:13):
and smart and informed saw this coming and collectively acted
like it wasn't that big of a deal, like we'd
seen it before. And maybe some people have, but most
people born after nineteen sixty five haven't. And this is
shaping up to be a much different world than the
one that we grew up in and looking a lot
(35:33):
like the one that our parents and grandparents did.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Only even back then.
Speaker 6 (35:39):
I don't think the countries might because this is a
very powerful country. I don't think back then the countries might.
Most more specifically, it's military was in the least capable
hands imaginable like it is now, and I think that
makes the whole world less safe.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So with the.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
Idea of us picking up and going somewhere else, as
long as the person with the colds and the most
powerful and well funded military on Earth is our president,
and the people that he has in charge are spilling
top secret military plans on social media. Almost it's hard
to feel safe, and it's hard to feel like this
(36:23):
thing that we do will even exist as long as
he's able to sustain the power and the seat that
he's in.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Well.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Until that day comes. My hope is that Eugene Robinson
will do what Capital B did because with the Washington
Post being owned by Jeff Bezos and you know he
he kind of had his fingers in the Washington Post
(36:58):
during the last election. You know, the Washington Post wasn't
able to do what they would normally do because of
Jeff Bezos's influence. Jeff Bezos clearly wanted Donald Trump to
win again, or at least he didn't want Kamala Harris
to win, and he exerted his influence over the newspaper
because he owns it.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
And the truth is is that as.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Long as there are billionaires involved, you know, people that
are able to own the publications and then shift their
focus from truth to specific outcomes or specific types of influence,
then you know, we're all subjected to, you know, the
forces of those in power rather than subjected to the
forces of truth. I've long stated that the truth has
(37:42):
a liberal bias to it, and you know, for someone
like him, for someone like Eugene, it it feels like
his story should evolve rather than in and so that's
my hope. So, like this and every other story, of course,
(38:05):
you're going to be able to check out the rest
of these up on bionnews dot com. I'd like to
thank you very much for your time and your insight.
Once again. Today's guest is the author of the book
Trap History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World,
Mister A.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Ar Shaw.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share, use the red microphone Talkbackbature on
the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to hit
subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your host
Ramsey's Jaw on all social media.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
I am q Ward on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
And join us tomorrow as we share our news with
our voice from our perspective right here on the Black
Information Network Daily Podcast.
Here at the Black Information Network, we know how important
it is for you to start your week off energized, engaged,
and enlightened. There are always major stories that break over
the weekend, and we feel you should know about the
ones we are talking about today, So stay tuned for
our weekend recap featuring the author of the book Trap
History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Shaw.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast. I'm your host,
ramses Jah and i am your host Qward. All Right,
mister A. Rshaw, welcome back to the show. Uh Man,
we've missed you, We always miss you, but really excited
to have a conversation with you today.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Man, what's the latest? All right, everything's good this way.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Just give a few technical difficulties, but it's always good
to be back.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Okay, all right, we're working through them together. That's all right.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, let's hurry up and get this news laid down
before we have any more technical difficulties. So first up,
we're going to share from the source. Ex NFL wide
receiver Antonio Brown is offering refunds to donors who contributed
to a GoFundMe campaign that raised over eighty thousand dollars
for a Georgia man recently charged with child deprivation. The
fundraiser was initially launched by Brown in support of Chris Lewis,
(01:13):
who left his three children, ages ten, six, and one
alone at a McDonald's indoor play area in Augusta, Georgia,
on March twenty second. According to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office,
Lewis claimed he was heading to a job interview, but
investigators later confirmed that no such interview was scheduled. Lewis
was arrested and charged with misdemeanor deprivation of a child.
(01:34):
In the wake of his arrest, Brown launched the fundraising
campaign with the intention of helping the Lewis family. Several
prominent figures contributed, including Brown himself of one thousand, eighty
four dollars, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreet Herb straight I believe
maybe you guys know how to pronounce that better than
I do, is listed giving one thousand dollars, and YouTuber
Chris Swaggy C Williams donated two thousand dollars, but his
(01:56):
new details of the incident emerged. Brown disabled to go
fund me and froze the funds, saying money would remain
on hold while he assesses whether it's truly going toward
a good cause. Donors can request a refund directly through GoFundMe,
or follow Antonio Brown's instructions, which he says will be
shared through his official social media channels. So for those
(02:17):
that have been following this story, you know, you may
know this already, but for those who hadn't just heard about,
you know, the gentleman who left his children at the
McDonald's with the job interview, this might be a bit
of a shock. So you know, talk to us, amir,
give us a little bit more insight into this story,
and you know Antonio Brown's reversal.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
Yeah, so this case actually, you know, it happened in Georgia,
up the road in Augusta, which is about an hour
away from from Atlanta. And you know, we kind of,
you know, we kind of got the story a bit
before it broke national. Okay, you know, just from a
from a local standpoint, a lot of people were pretty
much saying, okay, Initially they thought that this was kind
(02:59):
of shedding a light on the discrepancies of you know,
parents having to low you know, low, low income households,
struggle to find daycare and a struggle to find support.
You know, a lot of people just don't have that support,
whether it be from friends, family members, or just don't
have the financial means to get a babysitter. And so
(03:23):
initially there was a lot of empathy, a lot of
people just you know, wanted to reach out and help.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
It broke national, you know, thanks to social media.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Antonio Brown picked it up, and you know it's I
think they gained over like eighty thousand dollars within within
a few days with people just you know, you know,
giving their support and you know, you know, once we
found out, well, the police in Augusta pretty much gave
an account that's very different from what was initially told
(03:54):
in terms of Chris going to uh, you know, going
to a job interview. They said that he had went
to drop off some book bag and it took like
over two hours. And so, you know a lot of
people right now just confused. They're trying to figure out
what should be done next, because if they're if you know,
this family is struggling financially, should this money still go
(04:16):
to the kids and in any form of fashion where
they be you know, in some form of scholarship or
some form of daycare, you know, so you know, we
don't want the kids to have to pay for this
father's mistake if a mistake was made. So a lot
of people are really confused about this whole thing.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
But I think it did shit shd some type of
light on.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Fathers, and you know, because it initially people thought he
was a single father and so but it just sheds
a light on just how low income families they have
an issue with daycare and support when it comes to
raising kids.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Absolutely, absolutely, Cube, I know you have some thoughts on this,
So I think this is one of those both things
can be true stories, okay, where this might be a
family that is in a low income situation and the
dad might also be a little bit irresponsible, and Liker
said that children have to suffer either way.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
If there was some way that there could be, like a.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
Treasurer or some type of manager of those funds that
were raised that could make sure those kids get what
they need and not just give a big chunk of
money to a dad who might not do all the
right things with it, and that might not even be
because he doesn't want to. Sometimes people just don't have
the financial know how, don't know how to get financial instruments,
and don't know how to take a big chunk of
(05:37):
money and you know, make it something that could sustain
over a long amount of time. So, yeah, it's a
hard story to follow because there are so many facts
that we don't know. I read in one report that
this is something that this father does all the time,
drops these kids off somewhere and just bounces to go
handle whatever business he has to handle and lets the
(05:59):
you know, the restaurant watch the kids, or lets the
kids watch themselves by activity. But it doesn't mean that
they are not in you know, dire straits financially and
couldn't use some help. So, you know, if there's a
solution that involves being able to have that money go
to things that could benefit those kids, not just with childcare,
(06:22):
but with schooling, with school supplies, with food, with you
know whatever, I think that would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
I think ar is onto something.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, yeah, I think you're both right, and I think
what you said about there being you know, two things
true at the same time. You know, that makes all
the sense in the world.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
You know.
Speaker 5 (06:38):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
One of the things that I've learned to do being
in the position that you know we've been in these
past few years, que, is that I try to imagine
what a person would do if their financial circumstances were different,
(07:00):
were improved. Right, Because most of the things that we cover,
they have this root, they're rooted somehow in economic inequalities, right.
And you know, it's easy for us to see because
we've been trained to see, Oh, these people have more melanin,
and all the bad stuff happens over there. These people
have less melanin, all the good stuff happens over here.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's just kind of the binary that we've kind of
been conditioned to observe in the world, and so it
appears that way, but often enough it's a little bit
closer aligned with these people have resources versus these people
that don't. You know what I mean, These people don't
because you know, there's plenty of cases of people, regardless
(07:45):
of what race they are, where they could be considered
negligent because they're doing the best that they can with
what they have. And I'm not apologizing for this gentleman
for anybody. But if those people, let's pick a trailer
park family, right, if they had more money and like
(08:07):
you said, a little bit more knowledge, or they grew
up with money, or they had, you know, an education
that allowed them to really make the most of you know,
working and taking advantage of what little resources they may
have had throughout their life. Then a lot of the
(08:28):
things that they end up a lot of the pitfalls
they end up falling into, don't happen, right, And that
would be true regardless of race, or regardless of whatever,
of culture or whatever, because my belief is that, you know,
everyone loves their children, wants the best for their children,
and so forth, and you don't end up in a
predicament like this unless you feel somehow that that's your
(08:49):
only option. If you had enough money to buy a
babysitter or pay for a babysitter, you would, if you
had enough money for daycare, you put your kids in Dacre.
You wouldn't just leave met a McDonald's. So when you
look at it through that lens, it feels like, like, Okay,
this is another this is an extension of a crime
of poverty, except because the people that affects the most
are the children. It's like, okay, well, at a point
(09:10):
we have to kind of draw a line at a point.
We have to be sort of responsible. And you know,
the truth of the matter is that the gentleman was
at a job interview that day. It just was earlier
in the day, and he used that as the excuse
to tell the police. And because that's what came in
the report, like he kind of like fudged his timeline
a little bit, because that's what came out in the report,
that's what ended up, you know, catching on nationwide. And
(09:35):
then of course all of us are looking at that like, Okay,
he's a single father on a job interview, has no
money for you know, a babysitter. Let's give all of
our money to this guy. And then when it turns
out that, you know, as a Mirr pointed out, he
was trying to return a backpack or something with a backpacker,
which sounds fishy and it might be. But you know,
(09:55):
we know people that hustle, they sell DVD well back
in the day, they used to debt whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I don't know Skuy's story. I wouldn't profess to. But
my belief is that I know what people that hurt
children look like, and I know what people who lack
the resources to take care of their children the way
they would like to look like, and oftentimes those are
very different. You know, sometimes there's certainly some overlap. But
I haven't found anything here that suggested he's gone out
(10:24):
of his way to hurt his children. Rather, i've seen
him be irresponsible, We'll say that first and foremost. And
i've seen him be, you know, a poor person. There's
and again maybe that is me being an apologist for him,
but I'm not trying to be.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I just kind of can.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
I grew up poor, So I've been in circumstances whereas, okay,
this is not ideal, but if we were rich, we
wouldn't be here anyway. And that's not to I know,
I'm going on. That's not to say that that should
be the only deciding factor, but I do recognize when
you're caught between a rock and a hard place, you
make tough decisions. And that's true of anybody of any
race and so forth. And so that's that's as much
as I got from it. So yeah, don't believe it
(11:03):
right there. Next up this from iHeart dot com. New
York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he is leaving the
Democratic Party and will run for reelection as an independent
candidate following the dismissal of his corruption case this week. Quote,
I've always put New York's people before politics and party,
and I always will. I am running for mayor in
the general election because our city needs independent leadership that
(11:23):
understands working people. This is according to a lengthy post
on his ex account, and of course went on to
share a video. He claimed that his recently dismissed criminal
case dragged on too long, there were false accusations that
were held over him, and they were prohibiting him from
campaign for reelection. Speculation over whether Adams would remain with
(11:45):
the party grew as several serious challengers in the Democratic
primary emerged, including former New York Governor Andrew Cromo. Running
as an independent candidate would allow Adams to skip directly
to the November general election, allowing him more time to
campaign after having faced the now dismissed corruption case uh
this The decision will, however, distance Adams from New York
(12:06):
City's heavily democratic electorate and party organization, which could weaken
his chances of re election and what has already been
a controversial tenure. So strange move, you know, long term
but I guess in the short run, you know, that's
that's probably what he feels he has to do.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Here A thought TIERM.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Here, Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
I'm not really surprised by this. I mean, we we see,
we see how the current presidential administration pretty much helped
with this corruption case. And now I think this is
I think for him in terms of financing, I think
he wants to get more Republican donors in its next
in this next election. So there wasn't there wasn't a
(12:50):
path from I just don't think the Democrat going remaining
it as a Democrat wasn't going to help him.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, And I think.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
He he he sees that, you know, with this assist
this assistant from from uh the presidential administration, going as
an independent, it's almost like finding a loophole.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
And but I think I think he's gonna backfire.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
I don't, you know, I don't think his Republican support
is going to be strong enough to get him through.
And then without the Democrat, the Democratic support in New York,
it's just I think it's really like an uphill battle
for him.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Yeah, in terms of a re election, Yeah, I can see,
thank you.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
I think loophole is the key word.
Speaker 6 (13:36):
Yeah, right, when he got in trouble, he ran to
then be black again. Let black people back me up.
If he goes full Republican, he know he completely loses that.
He can't stay Democrat because he has partnered himself and
aligned himself with the current administration, so the only choice
he had was to be an independent. He thinks that
he can play both sides of the of the of
(13:57):
the aisle that way. But I think l like Amir said,
I think he just weakens his chances at re election,
as if he didn't do that enough just by being
in office. His support of stopping frisk, this massive scandalous
case that he was just dealing with, and everybody recognizing
that he got an assist from some higher powers. He
(14:21):
didn't beat this case because a thorough investigation was done
and he proved to be, you know, cleaning above board.
He used the same tools that those who he aligned
himself with use to keep themselves out of trouble. Interesting
to see how this plays out though, because trying him
best to his trying his best to remain aligned with
(14:43):
people that look like us. And I noticed that when
when Reverend Sharpner was on the Breakfast Club, he seemed
a little torn as to whether he was going to
continue to support Mayor Adams as well.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So we'll see how this plays out. Yeah, I could
see that.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
You know, I far be it for me to say
that Democrats are free from corruption, because there's a lot
of things that I mean, politics in total is.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Dicky.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
But I think that corruption certainly has a softer place
to land on the right than it does on the left.
So now that you know he's associated with, you know,
corruption and all that sort of stuff, as a Democrat
would beat, you know, like over on the on the left,
(15:38):
people tend to hold their politicians a little bit more accountable,
at least relatively speaking, and at least over the past
you know, eight years or so.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
So yeah, yeah, we.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Still have the impression that we elected them and they
should work for us. Not yeah, there you are not
We are them, and we tattoo them and wear their
shirts and decorate our high House in their pictures, and
like we don't worship them.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah that you said it way better than I could.
Speaker 7 (16:06):
Black Black, Yeah, Feasts of the Planet. I go by
the name of Charlamagne of God, and I can't wait
to see y'all at the third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
That's Right, Yeah, number three.
Speaker 7 (16:15):
Baby Black Called Black Rose More Black Ceyo were coming
back to Pullman Yard Saturday for twenty six in Atlanta,
hosted by none other than Mandy B and Weezy. That's Right, Decisions, Decisions.
The Black Effect is bringing some of the biggest and
best podcasts in the world to.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
The stage or one day only. Ready.
Speaker 7 (16:32):
We got the R and B Money Podcast with Tanking
Jay Valentine. We got the Woman of All Podcasts with
Saray Jake Roberts, Good Mom's Bad Choices, neckd.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Sports with Carrie Champion, and the.
Speaker 7 (16:42):
Trap Nerds podcast with more to be announced. And of
course it's bigger than podcasts. We're bringing the Black Effect
marketplace with black owned businesses, plus the food truck court
to keep you fed while you visit us. All right,
if all my aspiring podcasters, we got something for you too.
You know, we got informative panels and you can go
to the career corners with exclusive one on one time
with industry leaders. Tickets on sale now tap into at
(17:03):
Black Effect dot Com Flash Podcast Festival.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Today's guest is the author of the book trap History
and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Shaw all Right. Next up Total Pro Sports.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Donald Trump's mission to rid the United States of foreign
criminal elements has seen former NBA superstar Michael Jordan's strangely
dragged into an unwonted spot. Since returning to office, the
President has gone on a deportation rampage, seeing numerous residents
off to their countries of origin.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
As such.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Of Venezuelan Gang, referred to as Trend de Arragua or TDA,
has been listed as an alien enemy by the Trump administration,
with twenty categories being placed on a checklist to help
immigration officials determine whether nationals of the South American country
belong to the group. Various tattoos, including AK forty seven's
and the real Hasta la Muerte quote, have been identified
(18:01):
as some of those worn by TDA members. White Surprisingly,
Jordan's jump Man logo has also been added to the
Alien Enemy Validation Guide, where it pertains too said gang.
The logo is not the only thing under scrutiny Chicago
Bulls Jersey, specifically Jordan's number twenty three, as well as
Jordan and Jumpman sneakers have also been deemed as identifiers
(18:21):
of TDA gang members.
Speaker 8 (18:23):
How about that, all right? Uh a mirror, it's your
ball go.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So initially this sounds like a reach. It sounds like
a reach.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
But you know what, So I'm gonna but I'm gonna
I'm going to kind of backtrack. I'm not gonna make
I'm not gonna say that this connection is totally false.
I think this one is a reach, but I'm gonna
give you I'm gonna give some information. So there are
certain gangs that that do affiliate certain sets with professional teams.
(19:05):
You know, that's you know, that's happening for years. You know,
the Philadelphia Phillies. I'm not going to name the gang,
but it's a prominent LA gang that used the Philadelphia
Phillies logo as as an identifier. So I'm not gonna
I'm not gonna say that this doesn't happen. But because
this administration has done such a poor job of this
(19:28):
entire deportation, uh, I guess you know, campaign, I'm going
to say that this is a reach.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I mean we've seen that. You know.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Of course, there's a judge who basically said that they've
deported several people illegally and that they actually have to
try to get these people back to the United States.
And so it's just like this, this administration is doing
a lot of wrong things, doing a lot of things
that's that's just you know, insane.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
We just have to really call it out. It just
doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
But we're watching this unfold in real time, and I
think this is just another reach by this administration, and
this entire de deportation campaign is just it's a farce.
I mean, we've seen multiple times and multiple judges saying
that this is illegal and how they're going about it
is illegal. So I don't think this is going to
(20:21):
be the end, but I think this is just like
it shows you the incompetence of what we're witnessing right now.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Good gotta forgive me man.
Speaker 6 (20:32):
I laughed while you were reading that because it started
to sound like a Scottsdale nightclub dress code, like when
you said Jordan's and Geordan and jump out. I said, Okay,
this is just trying to keep us out the club
and Scott's sounds just like what we've been used to
for all these years. The part of this that's less
funny and the point that I've been trying to prove.
(20:54):
You know, we had a video, a video we did
on TikTok that has now been kind of retrofit for
every social media that's gotten close to ten million views,
and it's me talking about Donald Trump and you know,
his stance on immigration, deportation, ice raids, et cetera, and
(21:14):
how it feels to be a father of mixed children
of Mexican descent and what their lives could look like
under this administration. And you know, I avoid the comments
at all costs, but what happens when people co opt
the video and repost it is people see us and
then they tag us, because we're not tagged in the
video by the person that posted.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
It, end up in the response to that seeing all
these comments and I.
Speaker 6 (21:39):
Topically wouldn't typically wouldn't see and you know, shame on
you for having undocumented children was one of the comments,
which is not the truth. But my point was that
doesn't matter because even citizens are being deported.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
There's no checks and balances.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
These people think they can look at people and tell
they're bad people from how they look. And that's ridiculous
because the description the three men on this call fit
the description. Yeah, in a room with either of those
groups that they've identified as beneath or criminal or bad
or bad actors, or however they've deemed us in a
(22:20):
negative way or painted us in a negative way. And
if you put one of us or all three of
us in a room where everyone else is for that group,
we look just like that group. And that was my point,
not that my children are here illegally their citizens. My
point is that it doesn't matter when they've put you
in that crosshairs as an enemy, as a bad actor,
as a bad person, as a criminal, as an illegal,
(22:42):
or whatever. They're not coming with proper paperwork and proper procedure.
They're coming with license to be violently racist and to
displace people and put them in incredibly uncomfortable situations. So, yes,
we have a lawyer on retainer for my kids, but
you know what happens if I have to call that lawyer.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Something bad happened already.
Speaker 6 (23:04):
My children have already been round up and displaced and
somewhere where we can't just call them, and they can't
just call us, and we have to go through investigatory
measures to figure out where they are and how to
get to them, and then even then, this administration won't
admit that they're wrong, even when called out on blatant
illegal mistakes. They won't admit that they're wrong and then
put their hands up like, well, there's nothing we can
do now.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
So that's the point.
Speaker 6 (23:24):
It's not about them targeting bad people that are illegal.
It's that they've been able to put a blanket over
entire ethnicities and can run up and bash your windows
in and pull you out of your house with no
warrant because they have a license to do so from
the most powerful seat in our country.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
That's why I'm so upset. That's why I was so enraged.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
That's why I can't understand how you think I'm going
to be cool with you if you support him, when
that's the position that you've put me and my family in,
and you did it intentionally knowing that that's what this
man was going to do, because he said it. Were
okay with it as long as it wasn't my kids.
That's what you're going to try to convince me. So
if it was just kids that looked like mine, just
(24:07):
their classmates and their friends, that was fine. But no, Q,
we didn't mean that for you. And your family. So
it's just like, where does it stop. No checks and balances.
Even when they break the law or run a file
of the law, who's going to enforce it on them?
They get to go on TV and go on their
yachts and go to their golf club and act like
nothing's happening because nothing's happening to them. And this is
(24:30):
the world that we now live in because eighty million
people thought that was okay.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
And you know what I want to add to that
that that there's there's a I'm not saying anything new
to you, of course, but there's such a divide because
you know, where we get our news.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
We look at.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
The failures of this administration, especially when it comes to
this deportation initiative. You know, the failures in terms of
the numbers, the failures in terms of you know, they're
not being due process and they're not being checks and balances,
and so the wrong people are getting deported right, And
(25:12):
we are allowed to be very critical of those failures
because we don't believe that this strategy is empathetic. It
is not consistent with what the values we believe this
country stands for, on and on and on right, So
we're looking at the failures of this administration. But let's
(25:34):
say that they did actually end up deporting a handful
of people who were violent criminals that were in the system,
being afforded due process, so forth, and so on, and
it is proven beyond a doubt that they are indeed
bad actors from another country. On that side, they're all highlighted.
(25:57):
Look what the administration is doing getting rid of all
these violent, bad criminals. That it's document blah blah blah. Right,
So it you know, the news really does have a
role to play in that. You know, one side is
getting this this version of reality and the other side
is getting that version of reality. Right, So you know,
from where they sit, they don't play up the numbers.
So as far as they do, they know on that
(26:18):
side that Donald Trump is doing exactly what he said
he was going to do, right, and all these people
are bad and then they never hear about the mistakes,
or they might hear of course one or two. Yeah,
blah blah blah.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
The thing is like, so how about this.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
We have a a legal system in this country that
says you are innocent until proven guilty. Right, this is
a doctrine that this country espouses you are presumed innocent,
so forth and so on. Right, this administration has caused
half of the country to sort of adopt a very
(26:57):
different posture to guilt or innocence as long as the
person we're referring to is was not born in the
United States, or you can make a case that they
don't belong here. And of course the definition of who
doesn't belong here has grown since Trump has had, you know,
the national spotlight in politics. And so, you know, it's
(27:21):
a very interesting time, you know, to you know, to
back up with your hands is a very interesting time
to live in. And these are very interesting developments. And
the craziest part of the whole thing is that so
many people where Jordan's you know, so many people you know, like,
you know, I'm from California famously, and there are a
(27:44):
lot of Hispanic people in California, and there are a
lot of black people in California.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
And the truth is is that.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
If you look at Snoop Dogg and Doctor Dre and
all the early nineties hip hop and the late eighties
early nineties hip hop, and you saw them lowriders that
from Mexican people, right, And if you want to go
back further, you want to look at all the zoot
suits that Mexican and Chicano people used to wear when
they go out and party. That came from black people,
(28:14):
and that exchange has been happening for decades. Right and
we might we got we all got stuff to figure out,
but we do share a.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Lot of culture.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
And for Black people to wear Michael Jordan's clothes and
then for it to be adopted by Hispanic communities, and rightfully,
so you know, we exchange stuff back and forth. I
think this Jordan logo gives Ice and Donald Trump and
that administration license to strike. And then you know, literally
(28:48):
half of the country does not understand how this is
being abused, how it fundamentally opposes really the entirety of
what our legal system is built on. Or they just
don't care. And I suspect it's a good number of
people that don't care. And so, you know, point taken.
All right, Now for our final story, This from The
(29:09):
New York Post Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, an MSNBC
contributor and staunch critic of President Trump, said he's quitting
after owner Jeff Bezos. Bezos's significant shift in the paper's mission,
joining an exodus of journalists at the belagued broadsheet. Quote,
the announced significant shift in our selections mission, sorry in
(29:30):
our sections mission, has spurred me to decide that it's
time for my next chapter, quote, Robinson announced in a
memo to fellow staffers on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
He goes on to.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Say, I wish you nothing but the very best for
the paper and for all of you. I won't be
a stranger and I'll be reading your unparalleled work every
single day, So you know, I know that for you, amir,
this is kind of like right up your alley as
a journalist and as someone who's columns that we use
as source material for a lot of our programs. What's
your take on, you know, on this development at the
(30:04):
Washington Post.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
Yeah, journalism is in a scary place. I've been a
journalist for nineteen years, and throughout, you know, my career
as journalists, I've always felt that I could tell the truth,
and I never felt that there was ever going to
be an instance where I couldn't tell the truth. I mean,
(30:27):
that's our jobs. We're tasked with uncovering things, We're tasked
with calling out what's happening. And when you have a
prominent publication, a prominent publication, because I don't just say
that this is one publication that's doing this. Prominent publications
that's pretty much kneeling to this administration. That lets us
(30:51):
know that we're in a dangerous place, not just in media,
but in society, because if there's no checks and balances
from the media, then the administration can just basically do
what they want without being called out. Someone like you know,
Eugene Man, he's you know, he's a he's like almost
(31:12):
like the godfather, Like everybody in terms of black media,
black journalists, we all look up to him in terms
of what he's done, Like he's in I think he's
been in been around for all around like forty forty
five years. Uh so we've all, you know, looked up
to him in some form of fashion. It's just sad that,
you know, prominent media outlets are going in this direction.
(31:35):
And I think, I think years from now, we're gonna
we're gonna all see that this was a bad choice.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
It was a bad decision.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
To pretty much fall in line to someone who's as
we see it in real time, this person is pretty
much causing pain for the entire nation, not just one group,
one segment. I think, you know, you guys mentioned earlier
a lot of people thought that, you know, when they
voted for this person, that he gonna pretty much make
the lives words for everybody else for the others. Yeah,
(32:05):
and now the people who voted for him are singing
that they're getting that same pain too, whether it's financial,
whether it's family members, whether it's being laid off, and
so everyone is suffering right now in some form of fashion.
And it's just it's just a sad day when our
prominent you know, media outlets are basically kneeling and kissing
(32:29):
the ring to someone who's basically shown time and time
again that they're not worthy of being followed in any
form of fashion. So I just I just hate to
see that it's that that, you know, Eugenie had to
step away in this in this manner, given his history career,
and I know he's going to continue to to to
(32:50):
speak truth, and I hope that other journalists continue to
speak truth, regardless of what publicational outlet they're currently at.
Speaker 6 (32:58):
You know, I've said repeatedly that I fear at some
point in this country what we do will be illegal.
I've said that, straight faced, sober minded camera, because why
I'm paying attention at some point, I sincerely feel, especially
(33:21):
if this man is allowed to be the president for
a third time, that saying anything anti him will be illegal.
I think being anything but a straight Christian, rich white
man will be, if not on paper, legal, aggressively frowned
(33:44):
upon and kind of enforced as if it was being
critical of this administration. Being able to have your phone, computer,
social media plugged into to see if you've ever been
(34:06):
in critical love or said anything against the president being
something that they're starting to do to people that travel
I read about. You know, over the last couple of weeks,
it's getting really, really scary. And once again eighty million
people were okay with this as long as it didn't
affect them. Even if it affected because it kind of
(34:29):
removed solidarity in a lot of ways. You know, you
saw women voting for someone who's perceived as sexist. You
saw black and Hispanic people voting for someone who's perceived
as racist. You saw poor people voting for a billionaire.
You saw people voting against their own best interest directly
because they felt like proximity to this person or to
(34:52):
their beliefs, would keep them safe. I voted for them,
So it's not going to impact me, and I don't
care that it's going to impact everyone else, even people
that care about so what we hold sacred in this
space that we work in, and I've been very very
critical of our industry of not sounding the alarms. We
all saw this coming, all of us that are educated
(35:13):
and smart and informed saw this coming and collectively acted
like it wasn't that big of a deal, like we'd
seen it before. And maybe some people have, but most
people born after nineteen sixty five haven't. And this is
shaping up to be a much different world than the
one that we grew up in and looking a lot
(35:33):
like the one that our parents and grandparents did.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Only even back then.
Speaker 6 (35:39):
I don't think the countries might because this is a
very powerful country. I don't think back then the countries might.
Most more specifically, it's military was in the least capable
hands imaginable like it is now, and I think that
makes the whole world less safe.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So with the.
Speaker 6 (36:02):
Idea of us picking up and going somewhere else, as
long as the person with the colds and the most
powerful and well funded military on Earth is our president,
and the people that he has in charge are spilling
top secret military plans on social media. Almost it's hard
to feel safe, and it's hard to feel like this
(36:23):
thing that we do will even exist as long as
he's able to sustain the power and the seat that
he's in.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Well.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Until that day comes. My hope is that Eugene Robinson
will do what Capital B did because with the Washington
Post being owned by Jeff Bezos and you know he
he kind of had his fingers in the Washington Post
(36:58):
during the last election. You know, the Washington Post wasn't
able to do what they would normally do because of
Jeff Bezos's influence. Jeff Bezos clearly wanted Donald Trump to
win again, or at least he didn't want Kamala Harris
to win, and he exerted his influence over the newspaper
because he owns it.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
And the truth is is that as.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Long as there are billionaires involved, you know, people that
are able to own the publications and then shift their
focus from truth to specific outcomes or specific types of influence,
then you know, we're all subjected to, you know, the
forces of those in power rather than subjected to the
forces of truth. I've long stated that the truth has
(37:42):
a liberal bias to it, and you know, for someone
like him, for someone like Eugene, it it feels like
his story should evolve rather than in and so that's
my hope. So, like this and every other story, of course,
(38:05):
you're going to be able to check out the rest
of these up on bionnews dot com. I'd like to
thank you very much for your time and your insight.
Once again. Today's guest is the author of the book
Trap History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World,
Mister A.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Ar Shaw.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share, use the red microphone Talkbackbature on
the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to hit
subscribe and download all of our episodes. I'm your host
Ramsey's Jaw on all social media.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
I am q Ward on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
And join us tomorrow as we share our news with
our voice from our perspective right here on the Black
Information Network Daily Podcast.
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