April 9, 2025 • 44 mins
After strong backlash, National Park Service restores old Underground Railroad webpage that prominently features Harriet Tubman. This story and more are part of today's midweek memo.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A man who needs no introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The Black Information Network is committed to bringing you up
to the date news stories that are relevant, informative, and inspiring.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
And while news stories are always being updated and others
are breaking, we understand that you need to be in
the know all week long.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to your Midweek Memo on the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast with me Rams's jaw and I Am q Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
First up from the Black Information Network. Another national economic
blackout is being organized by the People's Union USA to
take power back from the corporations from April eighteenth to
April twentieth. The People's Union USA, led by activist John Swartz,
is urging consumers to avoid spending money at major corporations,
only shopping at local businesses if needed.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Per Newsweek, the group.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Says they are fighting against corporations and politicians who quote
have worked together to rig the system against the American
people by fostering an economy this iSIG designed to exploit
workers unquote. The People's Union USA also opposes the rollback
of DEI initiatives at major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Amazon.
There's an ongoing boycott against Walmart that lasts until April fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
The idea that DEI initiatives should be abandoned is backward,
regressive and dangerous, the group said in a statement. April
eighteen's boycott is the second nationwide economic blackout organized by
the People's Union USA. Future boycotts led by the group
include ones against General Mills running for April twenty second
and twenty eighth, and Amazon from May sixth through May twelfth. So,
(01:37):
you know, the saga continues, you know, the fight, The
fight goes on. So I don't plan on buying any
of this stuff anyway. So I think I'm kind of
already in that group. But I don't know your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Here a qu I just hope that convenience sauce don't
cost us the progress.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I remember there were times where people were like, boycotta
gas station for the day or something like that, but
then go fill up the next day and it was like, okay,
so we didn't do anything. They do a quarterly report
on those earnings that if we gave them the same
one hundred dollars the next day.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Then we didn't do anything.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
So it's you know, boycotts are exhausting, they're exhaustive. They
require time to be effective, and we've seen some impact,
so it's working, but it has to be continuous, it
can't just be short lived. And then you know, we
put all these companies right back on top because we're
just tired of driving, you know, an extra quarter mile
(02:39):
to go to the next exit, and we're tired of
having to get up and go get stuff instead of
ordering it with the convenience of you know, that one app.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Or that one website.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
So it's just I hope that people can persevere because
for some communities, we're asking a lot of them to
make their lives less convenient, you know, to spend an.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Extra dollar, they might not have.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
To have a lasting, you know, impact on the lives
of their posterity. For the most part, I'm hoping people
have enough stamina. I'm hoping that we hold each other
up and we figure out ways to fill in those gaps.
You know, they're there's stories of communities that created their
own things, their own food, their own clothes to help.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
You know, subsidize what they were missing.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But this was a very very long time ago when
there was just far less access to everything. So for
convenient sake, sometimes people fold and I just hope that
that's not the case with this, because you know, a
couple of trillion dollars in spending power is significant, and
I don't even think we realized before these boycotts started
(03:49):
that we could have that kind of impact power.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
One of the things that comes to mind, you know,
while we're here is Julo dot Shop j u l
O dot shop. They emerged recently as an alternative to
you know, Amazon dot com, Target dot com. There's there's
more than this one, but this is just off the
(04:13):
top of my mind because you were saying that you
know a lot of you know, black owned businesses are
stepping up to kind of fill in the gap that
of course naturally espoused the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
And I think that they are by their very definition diverse, equitable,
(04:34):
and inclusive, you know, and so their existence and their emergence,
I suppose in this time can be something that we
can look to. So again, julot dot shop for those
that are interested. And then as far as like you know,
these these boycotts, I know you're right that you know
(04:58):
it's it's tough for some people. Once upon a time,
we weren't this hyper consumer, you know, economy and society
where people are just used to certain conveniences. Once upon
a time, the boycotts were as simple as, hey, let's
not take the bus, so we're gonna carpool, and you know,
(05:22):
it's it's it's a little bit more streamlined. You know,
we're gonna walk instead of take the bus. We're gonna,
you know, carpool instead of take the bus. We're gonna
get bicycles. We're gonna, you know, make it into a
family event. You know, somehow we're gonna you know, who knows.
But that was our parents fight, on our grandparents fight.
This is ours right, and so we need to remain
(05:44):
you know, diligent and focused.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
But you know, to your point.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
We have seen, you know, the results of our being
mindful of how we spend. Indeed, the sentiments of yesteryear
ring true today. Do not shop where you will not
be hired. And it's funny how history repeats itself, especially
(06:07):
when the population doesn't actually learn about the history.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
So you know, how to get rid of the history,
so you can't learn, Yeah, well, you know they're doomed
to repeat it.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And so here we are again. But you know, if we.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
You know, if we're down right now, I think our boycott,
the effects of our boycott so far have shown us
that we're not out. And if we're not out, then
we're still in the fight. And if we're still in
the fight, then I do believe that there's a chance,
maybe not tomorrow, maybe not a week after that, maybe
(06:48):
not a month after that. Certainly in you know, it's
a ways, but there is a chance to emerge victorious.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
And until.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You know, we get to that point, I say that
we keep we stay vigilant, we stay committed, we keep fighting,
because at least for me, there's no quit in me.
I don't know how to do it. I sometimes my
brain will say, okay, Ramses, like you've done enough, you
can relax. You know you've given you've proven yourself, And
(07:17):
then my heart will be like, nah, fam we not
like we're still going, Like what's that like? Now you're
trying to hear that? And so I just don't have
no quit in my heart, you know what I mean.
So I'm hoping it's enough people out there to feel
the same way as me and ours petty as me,
because I love smiting these stores and driving past and
it's like my favorite thing to walk past Target.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I think just as important as us realizing that we're
having some impact. I think sometimes we don't do it
because we think it won't change anything, you know what
I mean, Like, what is it going to matter if
I don't shop there? I think our collective voice and
our collective power, man is just it's it's.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Far greater than we know.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
As individuals sell ourselves a little bit short sometimes, So
I hope we can hold each other up and hold
each other accountable in this moment.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, we're doing our part, certainly by covering stories like
this and letting people know that it's working, though. We
will commit to that in addition to being mindful of
where we spend our dollars to all right. Next up
from the Black Information Network, the National Park Service has
removed references to civil rights icon Harriet Tubman from its
(08:20):
webpage about the Underground Railroad. According to The Washington Post,
the NPS Underground Railroad site previously previously led with an
image and quote from Tubman, the main conductor of the
network on routes and safe havens that helped enslave people
escape to freedom. Tubman's image and quote, we're no longer
on the website as of March nineteenth, along with other
references to enslaved people and the Fugitive Slave Act of
(08:44):
eighteen fifty, the current version of the website leads with
commemorative stamps of various civil rights leaders with text that
reads Black slash White cooperation. An article included on the
web page previously began with the description of enslaved people's
efforts to free themselves and the formation of the underground
railroad after the Fugitive Slave Act. Now the article starts
(09:06):
with paragraphs that emphasize American ideals of liberty and freedom
and doesn't specifically mention slavery.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
It.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
You know, American ideals at that time were slavery, right,
and I guess decidedly Black ideals were anti slavery, and
so that distinction is very important. Black people didn't come
over here and volunteer themselves to be slaves, and without
giving people that don't know better that very important context,
(09:43):
it almost makes it seem like it was this sort
of friendly exchange that took place, and we kind of
got to a point where we didn't really just kind
of didn't need it anymore, and there.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Were a couple of people that.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
You know, were a little bit more active during that time,
namely like Harriet Tubman, and you know, that's it. Everything's done.
Nothing else to see here, but you know, kind of
the reworking of American history so that people so that
excuse me, white people don't feel bad about it. It
(10:21):
just it's dishonest, it's disingenuous. It's unfair to teach that
version of the truth to people who really want to
know the truth. And I think it's on brand with
the strategy on the right, which is to say that,
you know, we don't need to I guess, indoctrinate the youth,
(10:47):
or we don't need to cause the youth to feel
bad about, you know, being American or feel bad about
American history. But the truth is is that they want
to remove the responsibility of the United States of America
in the role of the lives of marginalized people, like
this country has done harm to marginalize people repeatedly, and
(11:09):
without that context, Younger people are people that don't know better,
will simply think that, oh, black people are just bad,
and you know, Mexican people just do this, and you know,
on and on and on without understanding the historical context
of how we got all of us got to.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Where we are.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And again, it's dishonest and it I think it kind
of further encapsulates us, encapsulates us into this kind of
rigid framework that we're in right now, where white people
have more money than Hispanic people, black people, you know,
gay people have everybody's got these stories, and the real truth,
(11:48):
in my estimation, sets everyone free. We discuss the truth,
we reconcile our truth, we make we make it right,
and then we move forward to understanding that it takes
time to fix all of these things, but we have
to be uncomfortable for all the years that we were
made extra comfortable, or really they were made extra comfortable.
(12:09):
And that's the path forward. And we've seen that in Germany,
we've seen that they've come to terms with some hard truths.
We've seen that in South Africa, you know, post apartheid.
We've seen how when a country comes to terms with
its history and they have real, honest conversations and they
approach their history the right way instead of trying to
sweep it under the rug, that only then are they
(12:30):
able to make any kind of progress. So, yeah, my
two cents you're thoughts ky.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
The fragility.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Of white people who still identify with the ideals of
their oppressive ancestors never ceases to amaze me.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, it's a really interesting thing.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And all the examples you gave of countries who have
reconciled and come to terms with their past and with
their singular truths, we say something about that version of
the truth. There's no other version of the truth. The
truth it's not. Our country had a war and the
losers didn't have to leave, and that is why I
(13:13):
think we're still here. Our country had a war based
on half of the country wanting to keep human beings
as property and half of the country saying that that's
not right. And then we had a president who you know,
made slavery illegal unless as punishment for crime. And those
(13:35):
that lost that war, whose ideals you know, lost, still
got to remain here and be citizens. So the oppressors
and those who fought for the oppressors still got to
wave their flag here on the land, in the country
where they lost this war. And to this day, Southerners
in this country as a symbol of Southern values rather
(14:01):
purely as a symbol of hate, divisiveness, oppression and slavery,
still waive that flag and still celebrate that heritage.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And we have an administration now that wants to re.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Or resurrect Confederate monuments and Confederate generals and Confederate statues
and find place for that flag steal because white supremacy
has never been able to come to terms with holding
to account or going against itself. So when the foundation
of the country was based on that, and then it
(14:31):
becomes unpopular, you fight a war. That side loses, but
they get to stay here, and there's really They don't
become prisoners, they don't become they don't have to get out,
they don't have to stop thinking the way that they do.
Nothing changes, and what starts to look like progress over
a certain amount of time proves not to be so much.
(14:52):
And if you can reawaken those ideals and those fears
and that hatred, you can stoke up tens of millions
of people that will support a person and administration and
a movement that still holds tight and dear the principles
that not all men are created equal, that men and
women that look like you and I are property and
(15:14):
should be and are beneath them, and deserve less dignity
and less self assurance, and less less of everything, less comfort,
less happiness, less food, less access to resources you know,
less access to capital, less access to education, less truth
(15:34):
about their history.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
This remains the country that we live in.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
All these things that I've shared that remain true today
are the reasons why there's no true reconciliation, why there's
no reparation, why there's no moving past it, because tens
of millions of us want to pretend, you know, it
wasn't really that bad. You know, the Africans really learned
a lot about how to do x, y and z
(16:00):
as a result of having been slaves, because they weren't
humans before that and couldn't have possibly known anything about
self preservation, gathering and hunting for food, building, education, arithmetic, science, architecture.
I can go on and on about all these things
that we were very very self efficient, self sufficient at.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
I'm sorry, long.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Before we were a country existed, Yeah, long before we
were kidnapped, trafficked, you know, killed and taken to a
foreign land and forced to work and build a country
for someone else. While they wrote songs about life, liberty,
and pursuit of happiness. It's actually kind of disgusting when
you get into the details of all that was going
(16:44):
on simultaneously at that time. But here we are, and
even today with all this quote unquote progress, James Baldwin
would be proven rights deal and that's that's really sad man.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, well, I think your point is well made.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
This this does get a little frustrating, but we know
our history. We can teach it to our children, and
we can teach it to those that are willing to listen.
And if we can just kind of stay the course,
(17:37):
get back some of the levers of government, it's not
inconceivable that with the same executive order that caused this
to happen, it's just another executive order. And if enough
people look at this and feel the same way that
you and I feel about it, then perhaps this is
just a temporary setback. So here's hoping.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Speaks of the planet.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
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Speaker 2 (19:00):
This is your midweek memo on the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast with your hosts ramses Ja and Qward.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
All right.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Next up, a video of an Asian church choir is
going viral and sparking debate on the Internet. In the video,
a group of Asian men and women appeared to be
singing and dancing to a gospel song in a church.
The group singing sounded very similar to choirs found in
many black churches across the country. The video, titled Vincent
Bonan and the Japanese SOOV Choir, was initially shared on
(19:30):
YouTube in November twenty eighteen. Pastor Bonan had the honor
of working with a choir from Japan. The caption reads,
the Asian Gospel Choir. Resurfaced online earlier this week and
received mixed reactions from social media users.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I'm going to share a few of Mirrod quote.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I hear us singing, but I don't see us, one
x user wrote alongside the video. Some users suggested that
the video was disrespectful to the true roots of gospel music,
which emerged from gatherings and folks songs created by enslaved people.
Here's another quote. They love to have the rhythm, but
never the blues. This is another comment and I'll skip
(20:05):
the rest of them, but suffice it to say there
were a lot of people that were in support, a
lot of people that were like taking exception to this.
Let me play a little bit of the audio right here.
Before we share our thoughts. All right, So I'll first
(21:02):
just because I have some some thoughts here, and I
read through a lot of the comments. I didn't want
to get into the weeds there, but I super love it.
I think it's it's it's well done. First off, these
(21:22):
people are these are these are religious songs. Okay, so
this isn't as much about taking culture, take whatever, as
much as it is, well, these are the songs that
are sung in this setting, and this is how they
are sung. And I I admire that, like it's it's
(21:46):
like flattering, like I can Like when I was learning
another language, this is way back in the day, I
used to be ashamed to speak that language in front
of people that where that was their native tongue, right,
because I thought that I'd be kind of like being disrespectful.
And I was told, no, it's very flattering that you
(22:09):
took the time to try to learn my language and
my culture so that you can speak to me. And
then once I heard that perspective, I was no longer
afraid to speak, you know, a language with you know,
an American accent that was broken and imperfect. I just
(22:30):
would do the best that I could. And again, people
they did, they actually did appreciate, and people slowed down
to kind of talk to me, and they were very
helpful and so forth. And I never, in my entire life,
I never found anybody that was upset. Now, granted, this
happened a long time ago before internet comments were a thing.
In Internet comments, as we all know, are breeding ground
(22:52):
for people who have any sort of angry bar that
they want to get off. They're going to get it off.
Most people would just look at it and be like, Wow,
that's really cool. They do sound like a traditional choir.
It's interesting because I have not seen a full on
Asian choir sound like a traditional gospel choir before.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You know, great, the world is a cool place. Let's
move on and see what else is interesting on the Internet.
Most people will consume it that way. But the people
that comment oftentimes are like trying to find something wrong
so that they can leave a comment.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
This is my belief and certainly been my experience. When
I look at this man, I'm so flattered. You know,
if they're going to worship, you know, black people are
not the only people that worship on this planet.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I've been all over the planet. You've been all over
the planet Q and.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
We've seen faith human beings express their faith through countless ways.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
To see this group of people whose language is so.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Foreign, so so far away from our language, whose lifestyle,
who's indeed.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Their land so far away from our land.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Culture, I mean, we share almost nothing for them to
take this, this pure expression of faith and hope and
whatever it is that people get from religion, for them
to take that and do it justice, I mean, you
heard them, I think that that, Like who would take
(24:33):
issue with that?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Like I just don't. I don't get it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
And who are these gatekeepers that get to decide how
far blackness extends? It's like, you can't have it both ways.
We can't be the creators of culture in the you know,
the kings of the hill when it comes to what's
cool and what's not cool, and at the same time
condemning people for participating, especially if they've done it right,
They've done it tastefully, they're not making a mockery of us.
(24:57):
From where I said, they're actually in a church, and
from what I saw in the video, there's a black
pastor in the church.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
There's as much respect, Like how else do you do it?
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
The K pop groups, they get producers from the US,
they you know, everything. If they're going to love our
culture and participate in our culture, it seems to me
that they do as much as they can to give
credit where it to do, and you know they understand
they're place in it. I have not seen. Again, I
could be wrong, but I have not seen the transgressions
(25:29):
that would cause me to be as upset as the
people in the common section.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I say, bravo.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I say share a culture and allow your culture to
be shared. That's how we get to understand each other
and come to love each other more. That's my belief.
And I know I'm a weirdo and I'm all rainbows
and unicorns.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
As Q would put it.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
But you know, I, like I said at first, I
kind of love it your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
There's a lot to unpack there, okay. And sometimes your
rainbows and butterflies create some blind.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Spots, Okay, I can learn help me.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Sometimes your optimism puts blinders on.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
That's that's fair.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Once upon a time, someone who celebrated and promoted and
profited greatly from our culture told us they didn't want
to do a black show, and we could have been
as flattered and you know, blown away by the fact
that they even cared to put our little culture on
(26:35):
the ready on the first place. You know, Tommy Richmond
I think his name is had a massive urban quote
unquote song last year and then went his way and
then went out of his way after that song had
massive success to remind people, hey, I'm not a hip
hop artist. Even though that song was nominated in several
(26:58):
hip hop categories, it's several award shows, and played almost
exclusively on hip hop radio BEFO, where it then became
a top forty song. Post Malone made a name for
himself doing our music, doing it well in a way
that was flattering and that we danced to and that
we got excited about, like we often do when we
see people do our thing. But that idea that they
(27:22):
love our rhythm and not our blues is based on
something bro that's not just gatekeeping. That's Hey, how come
everybody sees how cool we are and want to do
things the way that we do them. We've established what's
cool in every culture throughout the world. But when it's
time to oppress and put under the thumb and put
(27:43):
under the boot, we're first in line.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
For that, and no one comes to support us, and
no one comes to save us. Can I ask?
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Because Christian music is one thing. Worship music is one thing, right,
Spiritual spiritual music is one thing. Gospel is very specific.
I know you're not doing church music or spiritual music.
They're doing black music. So yes, of course we're always
flattered when that kid who doesn't look like us gets
(28:13):
up at the party and it's able to mimic our
moves perfectly like man Man. Little man looks just like
Chris Brown when he's moving. We never would have thought
so before he got out of his seat for all
the most obvious reasons. But that same kid would call
his classmate that looks like.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
You and I the N word.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
And this is a first person to count here, right,
So yeah, the gatekeeping has kind of come back in
vogue because we keep seeing them take everything that's ours
and pretend they created it. Yeah, from TikTok influencers to
(28:56):
fashion to our music to yes.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Our code.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Sure quit telling us how beautiful these things are that
we do without giving us the credit for it.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, so they might be honoring us. We don't know
these people, so.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
I'm not making these individual I'm not I'm not drawing
a conclusion, but listening to you, it was like you
seemed like how how could anybody possibly feel different than this?
And it's like, hey, well so let me there's a
lot of ways you can feel very different about that.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah, so let me add something here because and I'd
be interested in getting your thoughts here, because you know,
your point about post Malone is well received. I understand
that post Malone was embraced by black folks for doing
black music, and now he's he just kind of like
(29:46):
I guess, dabbles here and there, but he's like country
artists now or something that you know, who knows what
he is. He's like NASCAR beer drinking like he's over there.
Like fully, so he got like kind of he got
cool and popping by doing something you know over here,
and then made that he like took it over there, right,
(30:10):
And I never loved that. I thought that that was
like like kind of insulting.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Right. So again, your point is well made.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Whether or not there are culture cultures, whether or not,
there are people who will take from our culture and
try to mimic us, like pretend we know whatever, like
think Iggy Azalea think. You know, there's no shortage of
people like this where it's not authentically who they are.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
This I know. I know it well.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
You and I both know it well because we have
had to have these conversations many time over the past
two decades on the radio. But at the same time
we have had conversations about you remember when Juneteenth became
a holiday, Q and companies were trying to figure out
(31:12):
we did an episode of Civic Cipher. We were trying
to figure out how to empower allies to celebrate that
holiday with us in the same way that we all
as a country celebrate Fourth of July. We all celebrate
Saint Patrick's Day, we all celebrate this.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Day, that day the other day.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Then, because it's a national holiday, conceivably we should all
celebrate Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Day.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
We should all celebrate Juneteenth. We should you know what
I mean?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
And here's how you would go about doing that in
a respectful way.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
We did this episode.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
The idea there was that we were going to invite
people to participate in something that was decidedly black, that
honored blackness and black people in the story and the
journey in the plight of black people in this country,
particularly the history of black people in this country. And
we did not say, Okay, this is only a black holiday,
(32:10):
stay indoors if you're not black.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
It was like, no, here's how you do it, here's
you know, these are going to be respectful. These this
might be a little bit beyond what could be considered respectful.
And just know that there's mistakes that folks are bound
to make. Just be willing to learn and grow. This
is this is a great human experiment that we're all
going through. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Just you know,
kind of trust your heart and we'll teach you because
(32:33):
we don't hate you, you know, as a people.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
We will teach you what's right versus what's wrong. Just
come with the right energy.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
That spirit that kind of invites folks to like participate
but be respectful is the same spirit where when I
look at this video, I see, Okay, they're doing this
and they're being respectful. But it's not the same spirit
that I have when I look at post Malone, where
I'm like, okay, you're and you mentioned the other guy,
(33:03):
the million dollar Baby singer.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Guy Tommy Rich Richmond.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Yeah, so I don't love that, you know what I mean. Like, Yo,
if hip hop is giving you, you're just doing your props.
Don't act like we're a stain on, you know what
I'm saying, Like, that's super bogus, right, But for these folks,
And I could be wrong, but when I saw that
there was a black pastor there, I'm like, Oh, they're
in a black church, you know what I mean. Then
(33:27):
I don't know that there are black churches in Korea
or wherever these folks are from, but I do know
where there are some black churches. So I guess my
powers of deduction made me, you know, filling those gaps.
And I'm like, Oka, these folks got to be stateside
doing you know, they're a traveling choir. They just happened
to be a gospel choir. They just happened to be Asian.
But I see no signs of disrespect. I see no
(33:49):
signs of them taking the culture for profit exclusively without
giving that. I see none of those things. And if
that's true, this is a cause for celebrating. Once we
get past that point, then it's of course time to
say to lean into the truth of the matter, which
you know, again, your point is well made that, yes,
a lot of people do take from our culture, they
(34:12):
profit from our culture. They don't give us credit, or
they try to shed us as like a stain that
they no longer want associated with them once they get
all the way on.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
And so.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I think that I was seeing kind of more of
the former version of that. But you know, I do
see what you mean in that. You know, we definitely
do have a lot of folks that dip their toe
in the water and then run back to the other
side once they got a little bit of a gene
on them.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
So, yeah, just acknowledging that it's a possibility.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Your position seemed like almost offended at the idea that
people would keep like how cow and why would they?
Speaker 1 (34:48):
And it's like both things can be true.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
That could be actually honoring us, Yeah, but dismissing the
idea that the opposite is even possible, I think would
be irresponsible.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Well, so that I think that part comes from specifically,
my assumption is that everybody watching this video has the
same information as everybody else, the same information as me.
The extent of the information that we have is based
on the video, and based on the video I've seen
enough things that suggest to me that this is in
no way, Like I don't see them pushing an album.
(35:18):
I don't see them. You know they have they're like
literally in a black church. So for me, because I
didn't see anything there, I'm like, well, how are people
offended in the comments this is about? It's like they
sing beautifully like it, you know, and it's to me
that feels that feels flattering.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
I And I know you know me, Ques, but I'm
not intentionally pushing back. No, I know you're not. I
know you're not.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
But the position that you keep adopting, you keep ignoring
the other side of it. You have just as much
information available to you as the people that are offended
in the comments. So neither neither side can draw a
full enough conclusion from that very small amount of data. Right,
So neither side is wrong. But it's it's not, well,
they don't have enough information to think that they're doing
(36:04):
this thing bad. Well, we don't have enough information to
think that they're completely right either, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Like, it's just well that part you should say.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Adopting the position that there's not enough information to be upset.
There's not enough information to just deem them righteous either no, well, okay,
so it is all we have. Neither of us have
a everything. That's what happened before or after that video.
That's fairs. Malone wasn't a vulture until he was one.
On one point, won the beat was where we worked
until we didn't. That's again, I mean, there's just not
(36:37):
enough information to have a flag planted on either.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Side of the discussion. Then poss with that.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
I'll go with that. I think that for me, the
line for the individual Ramses, the line was, oh, they're
doing this in a black church too. Oh that was
the line for me, the individual. For other people, their
line might have been maybe a little bit further along
the line. And I'll add one more thing. I think
(37:07):
that my impulse is that if I don't have a
reason to be upset, I'm not looking for it. I
think the ready assumption, at least for situations like that.
You know, I've given you some context of you know,
when I was learning language and all that sort of stuff.
The ready assumption on my end is that people mean well,
(37:29):
especially when they're doing something like this, people are well intentioned.
They you know they I don't think people wake up
in the morning and be like, you know, it'd be
dope if we could pretend to sing black music and
practice and blah blah blah so that we can go
out there and offend black people. I don't think that
that's where people's mind is, so I don't start there.
It's like you said, it's everything is cool until it's not.
(37:50):
So For people in the comments who know the same
amount of information that I do, neither one of us
should be planting a flag. Although I, like I said
I when I saw the pastor that Okay, these guys
are good, but I shouldn't have done that.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Fair point to know that.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
There are people who start automatically with okay, what's going
on here, like this is crazy, that feels like you
haven't even given them a chance. And I, for me,
as a personal philosophy, I think my first step is
based in love and a desire to receive someone based
on their intentions, not based on necessarily their actions or
(38:31):
their behavior, and then help shape that into something that
is sustainable and something that could be well received by
more than just me. And the comment section famously is
not that type of environment.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And so to.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
See this group of people who for all intents and purposes,
could serve as ambassadors of black gospel music, bringing that
perhaps to their country and sharing it. You know, you
know there's a global audience for this as we're seeing
and been true for some time.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Of course, to then.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Find fault with them, I feel is like it's counterproductive
for what it is that I think we would want
as a people. We want people to understand as we
want people to love us, we want people to love
our culture, and we want our culture to be approached respectfully.
And based on what I saw, there was nothing inherently disrespectful. Again,
(39:28):
shouldn't the planet a flag? But I think I was
kind of thinking about it like that where it's like, well,
why don't people be happy instead of sad first? Or
celebrate this instead of being angry at it first? You
know what I'm saying, We have not neither of us.
We all see the same thing. I have not found
anything here that's caused to be that feels upsetting. And
(39:52):
I don't want us to look like the people that
we feel are oppressing us. I don't want us to
look like the racists that we you know what I'm saying,
And it's very easy there when Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
I don't think we have to adopt the position of
the comment section. I just don't think we should act
like we don't understand it, right, Yeah, that's going to
face so many times. Yes, it's kind of right now.
You're preemptive reaction is to stop somebody from Yeah, we've
had that. They're just reaching to be kind. They're reaching
to be kind. But the last ten times somebody raised
(40:23):
a hand to you, it was to be a slap. Yeah,
I know your inclination isn't always going to be the
benefit of the doubts. So again, we're not adopting the
position of the comment section, But I don't want us
to pretend that we don't understand why someone would like
so I've just dismissed it out of hand as ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
It's also not intellectually fair. I don't think. Yeah, that's
a that's a good point, all right.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
For our final story, This from NPR dot org. The
US Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administrations firing
of sixteen thousand probationary federal employees to go forward, at
least for now, without addressing the question of whether the
terminations themselves were lawful. The Court, in an unsigned orders,
said the nonprofits that brought the case did not have
legal standing to sue over federal employees firings. Justices Sonya
(41:08):
Sotomayor and Kaitanji Brown Jackson would have kept the firings
paused while the case plays out in the lower courts.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
The court's in narrow ruling.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
Applies only to the nonprofits in Tuesday's lawsuit, and it
did not decide on the case as a whole. Nonetheless,
the Court's decision makes it more difficult for groups affected
by government layoffs to challenge mass firings systematically.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
So not too much here.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
I mean, the Supreme Court, as we've discussed many times,
is definitely right leaning and in full support of the
current administration. And so if he wants to fire people
and folks want to sue back, if the Supreme Court
gets involved, then And the thing about this one is
(41:53):
it's like a technicality, so they can kind of still
kind of keep themselves separate from the issue.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Rather than.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Stepping in for the American people. You know, these agencies that,
to be fair, maybe a lot of them did need
a lot of refining and optimization. And every president has
their own strategy of going about doing that. But this
way is racist first, I have to say that. And
(42:29):
it is affecting not just sixteen thousand people, it's affecting
the people that these people, these sixteen thousand people work
to serve in the United States. And this is not
the end of the list at all. This is just
this one case. But I mean, the writing's on the wall.
We see how the Supreme Court is positioning itself to
(42:53):
support Donald Trump without fully getting involved in it. They
can just kind of find some technicality I've seen them
do before, but find some technicality to where they're like, ah,
you know, we won't even weigh in. If the outcome
still supports him, then we won't say nothing. And if
he needs us two of them, we'll say something. And
it's like, well, the outcomes ultimately are going to be
(43:13):
the same. So here we are your thoughts. There is
no one coming to save us. Yeah, and we have
no protectors.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
The entire government is compromised at the whim of one
person and a singular white supremacist, Christian nationalists agenda.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
It's a very scary place to be. Don't forget these.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Another news stories can be found at Binnews dot com.
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback that
you're on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure
to hit subscribe and download all.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Of our episodes.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
I'm your host Rams's Jah on all social media.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I am Q on our social media as well, and
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Join us tomorrow as we share our news with our
voice from our perspective right here on the Black Information
Network Daily Podcast
A man who needs no introduction.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
The Black Information Network is committed to bringing you up
to the date news stories that are relevant, informative, and inspiring.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
And while news stories are always being updated and others
are breaking, we understand that you need to be in
the know all week long.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to your Midweek Memo on the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast with me Rams's jaw and I Am q Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
First up from the Black Information Network. Another national economic
blackout is being organized by the People's Union USA to
take power back from the corporations from April eighteenth to
April twentieth. The People's Union USA, led by activist John Swartz,
is urging consumers to avoid spending money at major corporations,
only shopping at local businesses if needed.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Per Newsweek, the group.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Says they are fighting against corporations and politicians who quote
have worked together to rig the system against the American
people by fostering an economy this iSIG designed to exploit
workers unquote. The People's Union USA also opposes the rollback
of DEI initiatives at major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Amazon.
There's an ongoing boycott against Walmart that lasts until April fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
The idea that DEI initiatives should be abandoned is backward,
regressive and dangerous, the group said in a statement. April
eighteen's boycott is the second nationwide economic blackout organized by
the People's Union USA. Future boycotts led by the group
include ones against General Mills running for April twenty second
and twenty eighth, and Amazon from May sixth through May twelfth. So,
(01:37):
you know, the saga continues, you know, the fight, The
fight goes on. So I don't plan on buying any
of this stuff anyway. So I think I'm kind of
already in that group. But I don't know your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Here a qu I just hope that convenience sauce don't
cost us the progress.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I remember there were times where people were like, boycotta
gas station for the day or something like that, but
then go fill up the next day and it was like, okay,
so we didn't do anything. They do a quarterly report
on those earnings that if we gave them the same
one hundred dollars the next day.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Then we didn't do anything.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
So it's you know, boycotts are exhausting, they're exhaustive. They
require time to be effective, and we've seen some impact,
so it's working, but it has to be continuous, it
can't just be short lived. And then you know, we
put all these companies right back on top because we're
just tired of driving, you know, an extra quarter mile
(02:39):
to go to the next exit, and we're tired of
having to get up and go get stuff instead of
ordering it with the convenience of you know, that one app.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Or that one website.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
So it's just I hope that people can persevere because
for some communities, we're asking a lot of them to
make their lives less convenient, you know, to spend an.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Extra dollar, they might not have.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
To have a lasting, you know, impact on the lives
of their posterity. For the most part, I'm hoping people
have enough stamina. I'm hoping that we hold each other
up and we figure out ways to fill in those gaps.
You know, they're there's stories of communities that created their
own things, their own food, their own clothes to help.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
You know, subsidize what they were missing.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
But this was a very very long time ago when
there was just far less access to everything. So for
convenient sake, sometimes people fold and I just hope that
that's not the case with this, because you know, a
couple of trillion dollars in spending power is significant, and
I don't even think we realized before these boycotts started
(03:49):
that we could have that kind of impact power.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
One of the things that comes to mind, you know,
while we're here is Julo dot Shop j u l
O dot shop. They emerged recently as an alternative to
you know, Amazon dot com, Target dot com. There's there's
more than this one, but this is just off the
(04:13):
top of my mind because you were saying that you
know a lot of you know, black owned businesses are
stepping up to kind of fill in the gap that
of course naturally espoused the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
And I think that they are by their very definition diverse, equitable,
(04:34):
and inclusive, you know, and so their existence and their emergence,
I suppose in this time can be something that we
can look to. So again, julot dot shop for those
that are interested. And then as far as like you know,
these these boycotts, I know you're right that you know
(04:58):
it's it's tough for some people. Once upon a time,
we weren't this hyper consumer, you know, economy and society
where people are just used to certain conveniences. Once upon
a time, the boycotts were as simple as, hey, let's
not take the bus, so we're gonna carpool, and you know,
(05:22):
it's it's it's a little bit more streamlined. You know,
we're gonna walk instead of take the bus. We're gonna,
you know, carpool instead of take the bus. We're gonna
get bicycles. We're gonna, you know, make it into a
family event. You know, somehow we're gonna you know, who knows.
But that was our parents fight, on our grandparents fight.
This is ours right, and so we need to remain
(05:44):
you know, diligent and focused.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
But you know, to your point.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
We have seen, you know, the results of our being
mindful of how we spend. Indeed, the sentiments of yesteryear
ring true today. Do not shop where you will not
be hired. And it's funny how history repeats itself, especially
(06:07):
when the population doesn't actually learn about the history.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
So you know, how to get rid of the history,
so you can't learn, Yeah, well, you know they're doomed
to repeat it.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And so here we are again. But you know, if we.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
You know, if we're down right now, I think our boycott,
the effects of our boycott so far have shown us
that we're not out. And if we're not out, then
we're still in the fight. And if we're still in
the fight, then I do believe that there's a chance,
maybe not tomorrow, maybe not a week after that, maybe
(06:48):
not a month after that. Certainly in you know, it's
a ways, but there is a chance to emerge victorious.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
And until.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
You know, we get to that point, I say that
we keep we stay vigilant, we stay committed, we keep fighting,
because at least for me, there's no quit in me.
I don't know how to do it. I sometimes my
brain will say, okay, Ramses, like you've done enough, you
can relax. You know you've given you've proven yourself, And
(07:17):
then my heart will be like, nah, fam we not
like we're still going, Like what's that like? Now you're
trying to hear that? And so I just don't have
no quit in my heart, you know what I mean.
So I'm hoping it's enough people out there to feel
the same way as me and ours petty as me,
because I love smiting these stores and driving past and
it's like my favorite thing to walk past Target.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I think just as important as us realizing that we're
having some impact. I think sometimes we don't do it
because we think it won't change anything, you know what
I mean, Like, what is it going to matter if
I don't shop there? I think our collective voice and
our collective power, man is just it's it's.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Far greater than we know.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
As individuals sell ourselves a little bit short sometimes, So
I hope we can hold each other up and hold
each other accountable in this moment.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, we're doing our part, certainly by covering stories like
this and letting people know that it's working, though. We
will commit to that in addition to being mindful of
where we spend our dollars to all right. Next up
from the Black Information Network, the National Park Service has
removed references to civil rights icon Harriet Tubman from its
(08:20):
webpage about the Underground Railroad. According to The Washington Post,
the NPS Underground Railroad site previously previously led with an
image and quote from Tubman, the main conductor of the
network on routes and safe havens that helped enslave people
escape to freedom. Tubman's image and quote, we're no longer
on the website as of March nineteenth, along with other
references to enslaved people and the Fugitive Slave Act of
(08:44):
eighteen fifty, the current version of the website leads with
commemorative stamps of various civil rights leaders with text that
reads Black slash White cooperation. An article included on the
web page previously began with the description of enslaved people's
efforts to free themselves and the formation of the underground
railroad after the Fugitive Slave Act. Now the article starts
(09:06):
with paragraphs that emphasize American ideals of liberty and freedom
and doesn't specifically mention slavery.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
It.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
You know, American ideals at that time were slavery, right,
and I guess decidedly Black ideals were anti slavery, and
so that distinction is very important. Black people didn't come
over here and volunteer themselves to be slaves, and without
giving people that don't know better that very important context,
(09:43):
it almost makes it seem like it was this sort
of friendly exchange that took place, and we kind of
got to a point where we didn't really just kind
of didn't need it anymore, and there.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Were a couple of people that.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
You know, were a little bit more active during that time,
namely like Harriet Tubman, and you know, that's it. Everything's done.
Nothing else to see here, but you know, kind of
the reworking of American history so that people so that
excuse me, white people don't feel bad about it. It
(10:21):
just it's dishonest, it's disingenuous. It's unfair to teach that
version of the truth to people who really want to
know the truth. And I think it's on brand with
the strategy on the right, which is to say that,
you know, we don't need to I guess, indoctrinate the youth,
(10:47):
or we don't need to cause the youth to feel
bad about, you know, being American or feel bad about
American history. But the truth is is that they want
to remove the responsibility of the United States of America
in the role of the lives of marginalized people, like
this country has done harm to marginalize people repeatedly, and
(11:09):
without that context, Younger people are people that don't know better,
will simply think that, oh, black people are just bad,
and you know, Mexican people just do this, and you know,
on and on and on without understanding the historical context
of how we got all of us got to.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Where we are.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
And again, it's dishonest and it I think it kind
of further encapsulates us, encapsulates us into this kind of
rigid framework that we're in right now, where white people
have more money than Hispanic people, black people, you know,
gay people have everybody's got these stories, and the real truth,
(11:48):
in my estimation, sets everyone free. We discuss the truth,
we reconcile our truth, we make we make it right,
and then we move forward to understanding that it takes
time to fix all of these things, but we have
to be uncomfortable for all the years that we were
made extra comfortable, or really they were made extra comfortable.
(12:09):
And that's the path forward. And we've seen that in Germany,
we've seen that they've come to terms with some hard truths.
We've seen that in South Africa, you know, post apartheid.
We've seen how when a country comes to terms with
its history and they have real, honest conversations and they
approach their history the right way instead of trying to
sweep it under the rug, that only then are they
(12:30):
able to make any kind of progress. So, yeah, my
two cents you're thoughts ky.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
The fragility.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Of white people who still identify with the ideals of
their oppressive ancestors never ceases to amaze me.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, it's a really interesting thing.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
And all the examples you gave of countries who have
reconciled and come to terms with their past and with
their singular truths, we say something about that version of
the truth. There's no other version of the truth. The
truth it's not. Our country had a war and the
losers didn't have to leave, and that is why I
(13:13):
think we're still here. Our country had a war based
on half of the country wanting to keep human beings
as property and half of the country saying that that's
not right. And then we had a president who you know,
made slavery illegal unless as punishment for crime. And those
(13:35):
that lost that war, whose ideals you know, lost, still
got to remain here and be citizens. So the oppressors
and those who fought for the oppressors still got to
wave their flag here on the land, in the country
where they lost this war. And to this day, Southerners
in this country as a symbol of Southern values rather
(14:01):
purely as a symbol of hate, divisiveness, oppression and slavery,
still waive that flag and still celebrate that heritage.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
And we have an administration now that wants to re.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Or resurrect Confederate monuments and Confederate generals and Confederate statues
and find place for that flag steal because white supremacy
has never been able to come to terms with holding
to account or going against itself. So when the foundation
of the country was based on that, and then it
(14:31):
becomes unpopular, you fight a war. That side loses, but
they get to stay here, and there's really They don't
become prisoners, they don't become they don't have to get out,
they don't have to stop thinking the way that they do.
Nothing changes, and what starts to look like progress over
a certain amount of time proves not to be so much.
(14:52):
And if you can reawaken those ideals and those fears
and that hatred, you can stoke up tens of millions
of people that will support a person and administration and
a movement that still holds tight and dear the principles
that not all men are created equal, that men and
women that look like you and I are property and
(15:14):
should be and are beneath them, and deserve less dignity
and less self assurance, and less less of everything, less comfort,
less happiness, less food, less access to resources you know,
less access to capital, less access to education, less truth
(15:34):
about their history.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
This remains the country that we live in.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
All these things that I've shared that remain true today
are the reasons why there's no true reconciliation, why there's
no reparation, why there's no moving past it, because tens
of millions of us want to pretend, you know, it
wasn't really that bad. You know, the Africans really learned
a lot about how to do x, y and z
(16:00):
as a result of having been slaves, because they weren't
humans before that and couldn't have possibly known anything about
self preservation, gathering and hunting for food, building, education, arithmetic, science, architecture.
I can go on and on about all these things
that we were very very self efficient, self sufficient at.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
I'm sorry, long.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Before we were a country existed, Yeah, long before we
were kidnapped, trafficked, you know, killed and taken to a
foreign land and forced to work and build a country
for someone else. While they wrote songs about life, liberty,
and pursuit of happiness. It's actually kind of disgusting when
you get into the details of all that was going
(16:44):
on simultaneously at that time. But here we are, and
even today with all this quote unquote progress, James Baldwin
would be proven rights deal and that's that's really sad man.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Yeah, well, I think your point is well made.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
This this does get a little frustrating, but we know
our history. We can teach it to our children, and
we can teach it to those that are willing to listen.
And if we can just kind of stay the course,
(17:37):
get back some of the levers of government, it's not
inconceivable that with the same executive order that caused this
to happen, it's just another executive order. And if enough
people look at this and feel the same way that
you and I feel about it, then perhaps this is
just a temporary setback. So here's hoping.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Speaks of the planet.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
I go by the name of Charlamagne to God, and
I can't wait to see y'all at the third Annual
Black Effect Podcast Festival. That's right. Yeah, Number three, Baby
Black called Black Rose More Black CEO be coming back
to Pullman Yard Saturday with twenty six in Atlanta, hosted
by none of us than Man Dy B and Weeezy.
That's right, Decisions, Decisions. The Black Effect is bringing some
of the biggest and best podcasts in the world to.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
The stage for one day only. Ready, we got the
R and B.
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Money Podcast with taking Jay Valentine. You got the Woman
of All Podcasts with Saray Jake Roberts, Good Mom's Bad Choices,
neckd Sports with Cherry Champion, and the 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
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(18:47):
aspiring podcasters, we got something for you too. You know,
we got informative panels and you can go to the
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Tickets on sell now, tap in at Black Effect dot
Com Flash Podcast Festival.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
This is your midweek memo on the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast with your hosts ramses Ja and Qward.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
All right.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Next up, a video of an Asian church choir is
going viral and sparking debate on the Internet. In the video,
a group of Asian men and women appeared to be
singing and dancing to a gospel song in a church.
The group singing sounded very similar to choirs found in
many black churches across the country. The video, titled Vincent
Bonan and the Japanese SOOV Choir, was initially shared on
(19:30):
YouTube in November twenty eighteen. Pastor Bonan had the honor
of working with a choir from Japan. The caption reads,
the Asian Gospel Choir. Resurfaced online earlier this week and
received mixed reactions from social media users.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I'm going to share a few of Mirrod quote.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I hear us singing, but I don't see us, one
x user wrote alongside the video. Some users suggested that
the video was disrespectful to the true roots of gospel music,
which emerged from gatherings and folks songs created by enslaved people.
Here's another quote. They love to have the rhythm, but
never the blues. This is another comment and I'll skip
(20:05):
the rest of them, but suffice it to say there
were a lot of people that were in support, a
lot of people that were like taking exception to this.
Let me play a little bit of the audio right here.
Before we share our thoughts. All right, So I'll first
(21:02):
just because I have some some thoughts here, and I
read through a lot of the comments. I didn't want
to get into the weeds there, but I super love it.
I think it's it's it's well done. First off, these
(21:22):
people are these are these are religious songs. Okay, so
this isn't as much about taking culture, take whatever, as
much as it is, well, these are the songs that
are sung in this setting, and this is how they
are sung. And I I admire that, like it's it's
(21:46):
like flattering, like I can Like when I was learning
another language, this is way back in the day, I
used to be ashamed to speak that language in front
of people that where that was their native tongue, right,
because I thought that I'd be kind of like being disrespectful.
And I was told, no, it's very flattering that you
(22:09):
took the time to try to learn my language and
my culture so that you can speak to me. And
then once I heard that perspective, I was no longer
afraid to speak, you know, a language with you know,
an American accent that was broken and imperfect. I just
(22:30):
would do the best that I could. And again, people
they did, they actually did appreciate, and people slowed down
to kind of talk to me, and they were very
helpful and so forth. And I never, in my entire life,
I never found anybody that was upset. Now, granted, this
happened a long time ago before internet comments were a thing.
In Internet comments, as we all know, are breeding ground
(22:52):
for people who have any sort of angry bar that
they want to get off. They're going to get it off.
Most people would just look at it and be like, Wow,
that's really cool. They do sound like a traditional choir.
It's interesting because I have not seen a full on
Asian choir sound like a traditional gospel choir before.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You know, great, the world is a cool place. Let's
move on and see what else is interesting on the Internet.
Most people will consume it that way. But the people
that comment oftentimes are like trying to find something wrong
so that they can leave a comment.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
This is my belief and certainly been my experience. When
I look at this man, I'm so flattered. You know,
if they're going to worship, you know, black people are
not the only people that worship on this planet.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I've been all over the planet. You've been all over
the planet Q and.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
We've seen faith human beings express their faith through countless ways.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
To see this group of people whose language is so.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Foreign, so so far away from our language, whose lifestyle,
who's indeed.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Their land so far away from our land.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Culture, I mean, we share almost nothing for them to
take this, this pure expression of faith and hope and
whatever it is that people get from religion, for them
to take that and do it justice, I mean, you
heard them, I think that that, Like who would take
(24:33):
issue with that?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Like I just don't. I don't get it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
And who are these gatekeepers that get to decide how
far blackness extends? It's like, you can't have it both ways.
We can't be the creators of culture in the you know,
the kings of the hill when it comes to what's
cool and what's not cool, and at the same time
condemning people for participating, especially if they've done it right,
They've done it tastefully, they're not making a mockery of us.
(24:57):
From where I said, they're actually in a church, and
from what I saw in the video, there's a black
pastor in the church.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
There's as much respect, Like how else do you do it?
You know?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
The K pop groups, they get producers from the US,
they you know, everything. If they're going to love our
culture and participate in our culture, it seems to me
that they do as much as they can to give
credit where it to do, and you know they understand
they're place in it. I have not seen. Again, I
could be wrong, but I have not seen the transgressions
(25:29):
that would cause me to be as upset as the
people in the common section.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
I say, bravo.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I say share a culture and allow your culture to
be shared. That's how we get to understand each other
and come to love each other more. That's my belief.
And I know I'm a weirdo and I'm all rainbows
and unicorns.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
As Q would put it.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
But you know, I, like I said at first, I
kind of love it your thoughts.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
There's a lot to unpack there, okay. And sometimes your
rainbows and butterflies create some blind.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Spots, Okay, I can learn help me.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
Sometimes your optimism puts blinders on.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
That's that's fair.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Once upon a time, someone who celebrated and promoted and
profited greatly from our culture told us they didn't want
to do a black show, and we could have been
as flattered and you know, blown away by the fact
that they even cared to put our little culture on
(26:35):
the ready on the first place. You know, Tommy Richmond
I think his name is had a massive urban quote
unquote song last year and then went his way and
then went out of his way after that song had
massive success to remind people, hey, I'm not a hip
hop artist. Even though that song was nominated in several
(26:58):
hip hop categories, it's several award shows, and played almost
exclusively on hip hop radio BEFO, where it then became
a top forty song. Post Malone made a name for
himself doing our music, doing it well in a way
that was flattering and that we danced to and that
we got excited about, like we often do when we
see people do our thing. But that idea that they
(27:22):
love our rhythm and not our blues is based on
something bro that's not just gatekeeping. That's Hey, how come
everybody sees how cool we are and want to do
things the way that we do them. We've established what's
cool in every culture throughout the world. But when it's
time to oppress and put under the thumb and put
(27:43):
under the boot, we're first in line.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
For that, and no one comes to support us, and
no one comes to save us. Can I ask?
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Because Christian music is one thing. Worship music is one thing, right,
Spiritual spiritual music is one thing. Gospel is very specific.
I know you're not doing church music or spiritual music.
They're doing black music. So yes, of course we're always
flattered when that kid who doesn't look like us gets
(28:13):
up at the party and it's able to mimic our
moves perfectly like man Man. Little man looks just like
Chris Brown when he's moving. We never would have thought
so before he got out of his seat for all
the most obvious reasons. But that same kid would call
his classmate that looks like.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
You and I the N word.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
And this is a first person to count here, right,
So yeah, the gatekeeping has kind of come back in
vogue because we keep seeing them take everything that's ours
and pretend they created it. Yeah, from TikTok influencers to
(28:56):
fashion to our music to yes.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Our code.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
Sure quit telling us how beautiful these things are that
we do without giving us the credit for it.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, so they might be honoring us. We don't know
these people, so.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
I'm not making these individual I'm not I'm not drawing
a conclusion, but listening to you, it was like you
seemed like how how could anybody possibly feel different than this?
And it's like, hey, well so let me there's a
lot of ways you can feel very different about that.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Yeah, so let me add something here because and I'd
be interested in getting your thoughts here, because you know,
your point about post Malone is well received. I understand
that post Malone was embraced by black folks for doing
black music, and now he's he just kind of like
(29:46):
I guess, dabbles here and there, but he's like country
artists now or something that you know, who knows what
he is. He's like NASCAR beer drinking like he's over there.
Like fully, so he got like kind of he got
cool and popping by doing something you know over here,
and then made that he like took it over there, right,
(30:10):
And I never loved that. I thought that that was
like like kind of insulting.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Right. So again, your point is well made.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Whether or not there are culture cultures, whether or not,
there are people who will take from our culture and
try to mimic us, like pretend we know whatever, like
think Iggy Azalea think. You know, there's no shortage of
people like this where it's not authentically who they are.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
This I know. I know it well.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
You and I both know it well because we have
had to have these conversations many time over the past
two decades on the radio. But at the same time
we have had conversations about you remember when Juneteenth became
a holiday, Q and companies were trying to figure out
(31:12):
we did an episode of Civic Cipher. We were trying
to figure out how to empower allies to celebrate that
holiday with us in the same way that we all
as a country celebrate Fourth of July. We all celebrate
Saint Patrick's Day, we all celebrate this.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Day, that day the other day.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Then, because it's a national holiday, conceivably we should all
celebrate Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Day.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
We should all celebrate Juneteenth. We should you know what
I mean?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
And here's how you would go about doing that in
a respectful way.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
We did this episode.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
The idea there was that we were going to invite
people to participate in something that was decidedly black, that
honored blackness and black people in the story and the
journey in the plight of black people in this country,
particularly the history of black people in this country. And
we did not say, Okay, this is only a black holiday,
(32:10):
stay indoors if you're not black.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
It was like, no, here's how you do it, here's
you know, these are going to be respectful. These this
might be a little bit beyond what could be considered respectful.
And just know that there's mistakes that folks are bound
to make. Just be willing to learn and grow. This
is this is a great human experiment that we're all
going through. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Just you know,
kind of trust your heart and we'll teach you because
(32:33):
we don't hate you, you know, as a people.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
We will teach you what's right versus what's wrong. Just
come with the right energy.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
That spirit that kind of invites folks to like participate
but be respectful is the same spirit where when I
look at this video, I see, Okay, they're doing this
and they're being respectful. But it's not the same spirit
that I have when I look at post Malone, where
I'm like, okay, you're and you mentioned the other guy,
(33:03):
the million dollar Baby singer.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Guy Tommy Rich Richmond.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Yeah, so I don't love that, you know what I mean. Like, Yo,
if hip hop is giving you, you're just doing your props.
Don't act like we're a stain on, you know what
I'm saying, Like, that's super bogus, right, But for these folks,
And I could be wrong, but when I saw that
there was a black pastor there, I'm like, Oh, they're
in a black church, you know what I mean. Then
(33:27):
I don't know that there are black churches in Korea
or wherever these folks are from, but I do know
where there are some black churches. So I guess my
powers of deduction made me, you know, filling those gaps.
And I'm like, Oka, these folks got to be stateside
doing you know, they're a traveling choir. They just happened
to be a gospel choir. They just happened to be Asian.
But I see no signs of disrespect. I see no
(33:49):
signs of them taking the culture for profit exclusively without
giving that. I see none of those things. And if
that's true, this is a cause for celebrating. Once we
get past that point, then it's of course time to
say to lean into the truth of the matter, which
you know, again, your point is well made that, yes,
a lot of people do take from our culture, they
(34:12):
profit from our culture. They don't give us credit, or
they try to shed us as like a stain that
they no longer want associated with them once they get
all the way on.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
And so.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I think that I was seeing kind of more of
the former version of that. But you know, I do
see what you mean in that. You know, we definitely
do have a lot of folks that dip their toe
in the water and then run back to the other
side once they got a little bit of a gene
on them.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
So, yeah, just acknowledging that it's a possibility.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Your position seemed like almost offended at the idea that
people would keep like how cow and why would they?
Speaker 1 (34:48):
And it's like both things can be true.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
That could be actually honoring us, Yeah, but dismissing the
idea that the opposite is even possible, I think would
be irresponsible.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Well, so that I think that part comes from specifically,
my assumption is that everybody watching this video has the
same information as everybody else, the same information as me.
The extent of the information that we have is based
on the video, and based on the video I've seen
enough things that suggest to me that this is in
no way, Like I don't see them pushing an album.
(35:18):
I don't see them. You know they have they're like
literally in a black church. So for me, because I
didn't see anything there, I'm like, well, how are people
offended in the comments this is about? It's like they
sing beautifully like it, you know, and it's to me
that feels that feels flattering.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
I And I know you know me, Ques, but I'm
not intentionally pushing back. No, I know you're not. I
know you're not.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
But the position that you keep adopting, you keep ignoring
the other side of it. You have just as much
information available to you as the people that are offended
in the comments. So neither neither side can draw a
full enough conclusion from that very small amount of data. Right,
So neither side is wrong. But it's it's not, well,
they don't have enough information to think that they're doing
(36:04):
this thing bad. Well, we don't have enough information to
think that they're completely right either, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Like, it's just well that part you should say.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Adopting the position that there's not enough information to be upset.
There's not enough information to just deem them righteous either no, well, okay,
so it is all we have. Neither of us have
a everything. That's what happened before or after that video.
That's fairs. Malone wasn't a vulture until he was one.
On one point, won the beat was where we worked
until we didn't. That's again, I mean, there's just not
(36:37):
enough information to have a flag planted on either.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Side of the discussion. Then poss with that.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
I'll go with that. I think that for me, the
line for the individual Ramses, the line was, oh, they're
doing this in a black church too. Oh that was
the line for me, the individual. For other people, their
line might have been maybe a little bit further along
the line. And I'll add one more thing. I think
(37:07):
that my impulse is that if I don't have a
reason to be upset, I'm not looking for it. I
think the ready assumption, at least for situations like that.
You know, I've given you some context of you know,
when I was learning language and all that sort of stuff.
The ready assumption on my end is that people mean well,
(37:29):
especially when they're doing something like this, people are well intentioned.
They you know they I don't think people wake up
in the morning and be like, you know, it'd be
dope if we could pretend to sing black music and
practice and blah blah blah so that we can go
out there and offend black people. I don't think that
that's where people's mind is, so I don't start there.
It's like you said, it's everything is cool until it's not.
(37:50):
So For people in the comments who know the same
amount of information that I do, neither one of us
should be planting a flag. Although I, like I said
I when I saw the pastor that Okay, these guys
are good, but I shouldn't have done that.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Fair point to know that.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
There are people who start automatically with okay, what's going
on here, like this is crazy, that feels like you
haven't even given them a chance. And I, for me,
as a personal philosophy, I think my first step is
based in love and a desire to receive someone based
on their intentions, not based on necessarily their actions or
(38:31):
their behavior, and then help shape that into something that
is sustainable and something that could be well received by
more than just me. And the comment section famously is
not that type of environment.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
And so to.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
See this group of people who for all intents and purposes,
could serve as ambassadors of black gospel music, bringing that
perhaps to their country and sharing it. You know, you
know there's a global audience for this as we're seeing
and been true for some time.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Of course, to then.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Find fault with them, I feel is like it's counterproductive
for what it is that I think we would want
as a people. We want people to understand as we
want people to love us, we want people to love
our culture, and we want our culture to be approached respectfully.
And based on what I saw, there was nothing inherently disrespectful. Again,
(39:28):
shouldn't the planet a flag? But I think I was
kind of thinking about it like that where it's like, well,
why don't people be happy instead of sad first? Or
celebrate this instead of being angry at it first? You
know what I'm saying, We have not neither of us.
We all see the same thing. I have not found
anything here that's caused to be that feels upsetting. And
(39:52):
I don't want us to look like the people that
we feel are oppressing us. I don't want us to
look like the racists that we you know what I'm saying,
And it's very easy there when Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
I don't think we have to adopt the position of
the comment section. I just don't think we should act
like we don't understand it, right, Yeah, that's going to
face so many times. Yes, it's kind of right now.
You're preemptive reaction is to stop somebody from Yeah, we've
had that. They're just reaching to be kind. They're reaching
to be kind. But the last ten times somebody raised
(40:23):
a hand to you, it was to be a slap. Yeah,
I know your inclination isn't always going to be the
benefit of the doubts. So again, we're not adopting the
position of the comment section, But I don't want us
to pretend that we don't understand why someone would like
so I've just dismissed it out of hand as ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
It's also not intellectually fair. I don't think. Yeah, that's
a that's a good point, all right.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
For our final story, This from NPR dot org. The
US Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administrations firing
of sixteen thousand probationary federal employees to go forward, at
least for now, without addressing the question of whether the
terminations themselves were lawful. The Court, in an unsigned orders,
said the nonprofits that brought the case did not have
legal standing to sue over federal employees firings. Justices Sonya
(41:08):
Sotomayor and Kaitanji Brown Jackson would have kept the firings
paused while the case plays out in the lower courts.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
The court's in narrow ruling.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
Applies only to the nonprofits in Tuesday's lawsuit, and it
did not decide on the case as a whole. Nonetheless,
the Court's decision makes it more difficult for groups affected
by government layoffs to challenge mass firings systematically.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
So not too much here.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
I mean, the Supreme Court, as we've discussed many times,
is definitely right leaning and in full support of the
current administration. And so if he wants to fire people
and folks want to sue back, if the Supreme Court
gets involved, then And the thing about this one is
(41:53):
it's like a technicality, so they can kind of still
kind of keep themselves separate from the issue.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Rather than.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Stepping in for the American people. You know, these agencies that,
to be fair, maybe a lot of them did need
a lot of refining and optimization. And every president has
their own strategy of going about doing that. But this
way is racist first, I have to say that. And
(42:29):
it is affecting not just sixteen thousand people, it's affecting
the people that these people, these sixteen thousand people work
to serve in the United States. And this is not
the end of the list at all. This is just
this one case. But I mean, the writing's on the wall.
We see how the Supreme Court is positioning itself to
(42:53):
support Donald Trump without fully getting involved in it. They
can just kind of find some technicality I've seen them
do before, but find some technicality to where they're like, ah,
you know, we won't even weigh in. If the outcome
still supports him, then we won't say nothing. And if
he needs us two of them, we'll say something. And
it's like, well, the outcomes ultimately are going to be
(43:13):
the same. So here we are your thoughts. There is
no one coming to save us. Yeah, and we have
no protectors.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
The entire government is compromised at the whim of one
person and a singular white supremacist, Christian nationalists agenda.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
It's a very scary place to be. Don't forget these.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Another news stories can be found at Binnews dot com.
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback that
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to hit subscribe and download all.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Of our episodes.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
I'm your host Rams's Jah on all social media.
Speaker 1 (43:59):
I am Q on our social media as well, and
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Join us tomorrow as we share our news with our
voice from our perspective right here on the Black Information
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