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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.

Are you aware of USDA's Snap Contingency Fund?

Yes or no?

Yes or no?

Are you aware of it?

Sir?

I'm aware of that.

Are you aware that USDA, despite bipartisan demands from Congress, is refusing to use that fund to help keep food assistance going to families after Saturday?

Yes or NOA.

I my understand that is now in litigation, and it's.

In litigation because the administration is refusing to use the funds.

Correct.

It wouldn't be in litigation if the administration would just use the five billion dollars that's available to use, correct, on top of the other funds that my colleague just referred to.

So that's that's the claim in litigation because it's in It's not something.

So it's in litigation because these are decisions that the Trump administration that the USDA is making in real time.

They're deciding to pit hungry people against sick people, and I think that's im moral.

There's nothing legally stopping the administration from making emergency food assistance funds that they're just sitting on available for Georgia kids and families in November.

But even as we debate what to do about these ACA subsidies, it is it is indisputable that the USDA under the Trump administration is choosing to pull hungry children into this fight.

They're not just in this fight, They're being pulled into this fight used as ponds for short term political gain.

I thinks deeply immoral, and I think we can certainly do better than that.

Welcome home, y'all.

This is Angela Raie with Native lampod just hearing from Senator Raphael Warnock and hearing this week about what is happening with Donald Trump's impoundments as it relates specifically with the SNAP program.

But today not one, but two federal courts have ruled that Donald J.

Trump's administration must resume SNAP benefits.

Terror illegal.

These are just two words used today to describe the irreparable harm caused by the Trump Administration's failure to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Of course, that is what most of us call food stamps.

In Rhode Island, the court says, the court is orally at this time ordering that USDA that is, the Department of Agriculture must distribute the contingency money timely for as soon as possible for the November first payments to be made.

That's from United States District Judge John J.

McConnell, Jr.

And after an hour were long emergency hearing just today, Judge McConnell ruled that the suspension of SNAP funding is not only arbitrary, it is likely to cause irreparable harm.

He said that the terror felt by Americans who are scrambling to meet their basic needs to ensure that their needs are being met, are going to be left in harm's way.

Judge McConnell ordered the Trump administration to continue paying for the program using emergency funds we call it a contingency fund, and that they have to come back to court on Monday and say how SNAP will be funded.

In Boston, Massachusetts, the federal Judge Indira Tolwane said that she was going to reserve judgment on whether to issue a tro which is a temporary restraining order, and asked for the Trump administration to advise the court on whether they would authorize reduced SNAP benefits for November.

Right now, there is a Contingency Fund in the United States Department of Agriculture, that is to the tune of six billion dollars.

That does not cover the full amount at risk monthly.

Monthly, the SNAP program costs eight point two billion dollars and feeds more than four hundred, I'm sorry, more than forty two million Americans.

So, of course, these two rulings are in response to filings on Tuesday by twenty five plaintiffs that is, twenty two attorneys general across the country, as well as governors in Kansas, in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, and of course the District of Columbia.

They all came together to sue the United States Department of Agriculture, and they have been successful so far.

What we need to understand, and I want to make sure that we take a moment just to commend the people across the country who have come together to fund and provide donations to food banks.

From churches like New Birds shout out to my good brother an extended pastor, Jamal Bryant, into folks like Leonard Charlotte Mae McKelvey, who's one of the founders of Reason Choice, who's given multiple donations across various states, including South Carolina and New York to ensure that Americans don't go hungry.

When we look at that Masows hierarchy of needs, one of our most basic needs, one of our most basic needs is to be able to eat.

And that is something that this administration is denying the American people.

And here's what I want you to know.

Let's say that the Trump administration when they go back to court on Monday, doesn't have a plan.

They don't know how they're going to fund this, how they're going to make sure that the American people who provide the funding for this thing through their taxpayer dollars.

If they come back and they don't have a plan, and they say, you know what, Judge actually, which they've done before, we're going to defy this court order.

If they do that and they deny food to forty two million people, they deny the funding to forty two million Americans, this is tantamount to theft.

This is theft from the American people.

This is theft from taxpayers, and your taxpayer dollars they are stealing from you.

And that amounts to something we call an impownment.

So let's just talk briefly about impowerments because I think we need to understand this, And for those who are watching on Instagram Live, I urge you to tune into our youtubecause I'm gonna cut this live off right now.

What I want to say is that an impowerment is it refers to the delay or withholding by the President of funds previously approved by Congress for certain fiscal or policy aims.

Now, I want to be clear about this, just for a moment.

An empowerment is unlawful.

An empowerment is unconstitutional.

The Constitution of the United States of American Article one, section nine claws seven says, impertinent part, no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations.

Appropriations can only be made by Congress, y'all, made by law, and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.

The power of the purse belongs to Congress, not to Donald Trump.

Now, y'all know, he's been still in a long time.

That's what the court case is say, been still in a long time.

The reason why he's mad at tis James.

Right now, the Attorney General of New York.

The reason why he has found a way to indict her off of nonsense is because she had the nerve, the audacity, the unmitigated gaal to sue this man for fraud in New York still ows millions of dollars in fines.

And we thought he was gonna do this country different wake up call.

He is not.

And so also what you should know is in the Supreme Court, even precedent, case, precedent is on the side of the American people because in a case Train versus City of New York, the Supreme Wart unanimously held, not six to three, not five to four, not seven to two, unanimously held the President does not have unilateral authority to impound funds.

Again, Congress has the power of the person.

So what we've been saying our week, y'all, is that it's time to stop the real still, stop the real still.

There was no stolen election.

The stealing is happening to taxpayers.

The stealing is happening to the American people, some of whom have already gone hungry because funds had already run out.

And I want to shout out again, not just the people who have contributed to food banks contributed to funds, made extra food for their neighbors, but also for the good actors in states who have said, you know what, we're going to bridge this gap, whatever gap that Donald Trump is creating by not coming to the table to negotiate with people of good will.

We are going to make sure that folks who look like me and you, folks in our states, our citizens can eat.

So I want to just shout them out.

There's a whole CRS report.

CRS is the Congressional Research Service that talks about the Impoundment Control Act of nineteen seventy four.

That is, the President relied upon in Train versus City of New York, that Supreme Court case that I just reference.

What I want you to know is that stopping the real still means that the Supreme Court has to follow President.

Stopping the real still means that House Republicans, that Senate Republicans have to come to the table in earnest and talk about what this really is about.

They want to deny the American people of health care subsidies that were covered in the Affordable Care Act, or if some of y'all like to call Obamacare.

This is about ensuring that healthcare remains affordable to people.

I want to take from those subsidies, right.

They want to take from those subsidies and every other little place they can pull from to fund these tax breaks for people who are making a whole lot more money than you and me.

I don't want to pay for that.

I don't know about y'all, but I don't want to pay for that.

If I get to say, and where my taxpayer dollars are going, I don't want to pay for that.

I'd rather pay for health care being affordable to y'all.

Right.

I want to make sure that we are giving people breaks who actually need relief, not just Donald Trump's golf buddies.

That's not what I want to do.

That's not what I'm here for.

So I think that we need to be very clear about that.

What is unfortunate is that the Republican Party writ large are using snap benefits and the lack thereof, to starve our children, to starve our seniors, to starve our people, to starve our babies, to say we're gonna leverage this them as a political football to delay and deny health care subsidies.

Both are wrong, Both are foul, and that is what Senator Warnock was saying in his conversation in his is back and forth in that Senate hearing.

And so now I want to switch gears, because we need to talk about how we protect our power, how we find our power, how we leverage our power in an environment that feels so politically toxic.

We are grasping at straws every day trying to figure out how we keep the lights on, how we feed our families, how we educate our children, and how we preserve a democracy that was not only just fragile, y'all, but in so many ways broken.

And so there are people of goodwill, as my good brother Vince would say, who are fighting the power every single day in the state of California.

As you all know, we have an election coming up.

I voted yesterday with my mom and dad.

Where's my sticker.

Oh, it's on the back of my lapt Let me show, y'all.

I voted yesterday.

That's my sticker right there, if you'all can see it.

And shout out to everybody running in King County and in Seattle running for office, and also the ballot initiatives that we supported.

In speaking of ballot initiatives, We have folks that are fighting in power in California right now, trying to meet folks where they are.

There was a racist jerry manderin process that took place in Texas, and there were folks in the California legislature that said not on our watch, bang the table, like Ian lavanzet y'all, and one of them is joining us today to talk about Proposition fifty.

It's a very important ballot measure that is on the ballot in California.

This ballot measure was introduced to many of you by Governor Newsom, but Governor Newsom would not have been able to ensure that this ballot INITIAI made it onto the ballots of the folks throughout the state without the acting of the legislature.

Proposition fifty authorizes temporary changes is to congressional district maps in response to what Texas has done.

In joining us today to talk about this very very critical ballot initiative.

Right on the other side of this clip, I want you all to see this ad is Assembly Member Tina mckinner.

The first you're going to watch this.

Say, California, with Prop fifty, you have the power.

You have the power to stand up to Donald Trump.

You have the.

Power to protect reproductive freedom.

You have the power to stop election rigging.

You have the power to give America a fair midterm.

You have the power to restore checks and balances.

You have the power to stand up for everyone being a rased by this president, for all of us in all fifty states.

Yes on fifty.

So shout out to the black women who made it into the ad Assembly member.

I was looking for you too, and I also was looking for my big sister Kamala Harris.

But we gonna make sure we run a different ad, all right.

We have one.

By the way, how you doing, Angela?

How you know good?

Well, if you can't send it to us before we in the program, sorry, big, big, big, big fan.

I just want to shout out to you before we even get started, to lift you up for giving us real news and not all that fake stuff that's out there.

So I commend you for your social activism.

Thank you for what you do.

Thank you, my sister.

I'm also mutually supportive.

Thank you for fighting the good fight.

We always talk about the Congressional Black Caucus as being the conscience of the Congress.

Well, there are some bold tremendous, beautiful black legislators in the California State Assembly who are fighting the good fight every day, both helping to ensure that we feel and see our power at the ballot box with Prop fifty, but also even the packages that some of them, some of the bills were passed, but some of them weren't.

Most recently.

We'll talk about it a lot more.

I'll listen all we talk about on the other side of this election.

But I know you got thoughts.

You were one of those authors of the bill, and I really really respected the bill that you introduced.

So if there's anything I can do on the other side of this to make sure that that gets the uplifted needs for next session, you can count me and my sister thank you.

Thank you, because it's extremely important and we're starting with reparations, which I'd love to do that we have to make sure that we separate reparations from Prop.

Fifty's just there.

I want to make it they're not even the same, it's not even the same people who had to consider it.

No, we want to make sure that we don't mix it up.

Even though you guys see Gavin Usim out there talking, he's the governor.

That's what he's supposed to do.

He's doing his job.

He's supposed to defend California.

This is what the democratic governor should be doing.

They should be protecting democracy, talking shit to Trump.

I can say shit, you can say whatever you want Trump.

I love the way he.

Talked shit to Trump, talking shit to Trump, protecting democracy.

But this Prop fifty doesn't belong to him.

It belongs to us.

Yes, the Prop fifty does not belong to Gavin Newsom, y'all.

It belongs to us.

He's the spokeperson because he's the governor and he's doing his job.

His job is to protect democracy, protect California.

And I love the way he's talking shit to Donald Trump.

And I want to just fly for you really quick.

Just a technical matter.

I want to make sure we are emotive people, so black people use our hands when we talk.

Your screen is moving a little bit.

I wanted to stay as stationare as possible so they can hear you and see you, my sister.

But this is great.

Now here's the next thing that I want that I want to talk about.

I think that people probably are resenting a little bit how much we are having to output in this moment.

There are those of you, those of us like me and you I know, we went to the ballot box.

We exercise our franchise.

We did the right thing.

We told everybody.

So we told everybody what was coming in Project twenty twenty five.

We told people that there was no competition in qualification, style, substance, or anything else between Connall Harris and Donald Trump.

And yet people still got it wrong.

Those same people got the nerve to be tired talking about they don't want to go back.

Well, some of y'all didn't go back, and if you did go you voted wrong.

Not that many in our community, but we do have some folks talk about why it is so important for people to pay attention to this particular election.

Again, for those of you who don't understand what the assembly member was saying, Gavin Newsom is not on the ballot.

This is not a midterm election.

This is an election related to Proposition fifty to solve four harms that were caused in other states, namely Texas.

There are some other harms that are coming, so this is to prevent some of those harms.

So we have representation and throughout the country even if it comes from other parts of the world, like, for example, Assembly member, you'll appreciate this.

Washington State just got our first black member of Congress a few sessions ago, right, just a few sessions ago.

So who I went to were people outside of our state, particularly on issues that matter to the black community.

So this is one of those things where it's saying we're gonna have to maybe go outside of Texas, maybe go outside of Ohio, maybe go outside of Missouri or Indiana.

And I don't wish for any of our members to lose their seats, but if that's what they do, then we need some backup in other parts of the country.

That's not uncanny to black people.

I think that's really strange for white people to have to process that they may have to get support from other parts of the country.

You all do that too, because you're representing the needs of black constituents throughout the state of California.

So can you talk a little bit about that role that you play that isn't just unique to your district, but really is representing our interests throughout the state.

Absolutely, we have one hundred and twenty members in the state Assembly and Senate, twelve African American people represent black people across the state.

So it's twelve of us, so we have ten percent.

So of course we represent all the black folks across the state.

We make sure that we do that well too.

By the way, we're pretty feisty group.

Look what happened in this was you all know, Donald Trump called Texas and say give me five give me five seats.

I deserve it.

In California, we heard it and our governor jumped right on it and he said, you bring the fight to California.

We bring it back to you.

And so we went in and we passed three bills.

The first bill is a constitutional bill to allow us the legislature to draw maps, to redraw the maps because we have an independent a redistrict and Commission that comes in every ten years and draw the maps.

So we take that and the legislature are going to draw them.

That was the first bill.

The second bill actually accepts the maps that we drew.

And the third bill paid for this special election.

The special election is gonna cost us about fifty million, I'm sorry, five hundred million dollars.

I always forget that zero.

I would want to forget it to that's expensive.

It's expensive.

But we were more afraid not to spend the money than to give up the money because Trump is so damn dangerous.

You just talked about he's making he's putting hunger against health care.

Who does that?

Who does that?

A crazy man?

And so we voted on it.

And unlike Texas, Texas just we drew the maps.

Unlike Texas, we believe in a democracy.

So we're taking it back to the voters and we're asking the voters permission to draw the maps.

But what this does is when Texas put in those five Republican seats, California is going to put in five Democratic seats.

We're gonna we drew those lines.

Well, we drew in Democrats.

There are only nine Republican seats in California.

I love living in republic In California, five Republican congressional seats, and because they found a pace with us.

We're gonna only leave them with four.

And so this is about making sure that we have an even playing field for the midterms.

Like Angela said, the midterms.

Congress runs every two years.

The midterms is where all the financial stuff comes through.

Got to come through Congress, It's not through the president.

Plus our American, this US American experiment is failing.

Donald Trump as the presidency, the Supreme Court most of the time, and the US House and the US Senate.

We have to ensure that we get these mid terms back, that we get Congress back, so we could stop some of these nonsense.

And when you think.

About nonsense, I'm gonna stop because I could go on and no.

No, I have two questions for you.

The first is where you kind of ended, and it's around you're gonna only leave the Republican Party with four in California.

My question is given the fact that Texas is the beginning, that's not the in And I'm not great at math.

I went to law school to avoid it at all costs, but I can do basic arithmetic.

Why leave them with any?

If you know that there are other states coming and they control most of the legislatures throughout the country, why leave them with any?

What's the rationale for that?

Well, we went to the voters that we well, we really did.

We just wanted to do five because we thought that if we just took over, California is not as devious as Texas.

So we thought it we just took over the whole state that might not be as fair because we do have Republicans that live in the state.

You're not playing with fair, y'all.

Y'all are playing with fashions problems.

Sometimes we try to be too fair, and.

I agree, I wars like and so I don't mean to cut you off, but I'm just like, I am, I am blown away, and I'm I'm gonna own this too.

So I'm not so you know, I'm not shooting it just our folks.

I'm owning this too.

You know how you you grew up professionally in a thing, right, and it's like, okay, I know this game.

I know what it is.

I can advise anybody, eyes closed, blindfolded, hands time by on my back, one leg.

I'm ready.

But they changed the entire rules of the game.

The rules of engagement have shifted.

And so what is blowing my mind and I have to again, I have to reset every day too, is how resistant we are to what has occurred, Like the fact that this is a fascist regime.

We are living under an authoritarian government who readily defies court orders, and we're like, oh, well, you know, let me just be fair because these other you know, you might have a Republican friend that you know, sit down, go to the movies, eat some cheese it's with or whatever.

But like, they are still empowering and endorsing this fascism, and so there has to be a consequence somewhere, especially if the math isn't math so hypothetical.

Let's say that you realize tomorrow or election day, right the day everybody's voting, yes, I'm prop fifty, that they are coming from more seats than you thought.

Is there a mechanism to change it so that you eliminate all nine?

Not just there's not a mechanism, you stuck mechanism.

We drew the maps.

They're voting on the maps on Tuesday.

So we drew the maps, and we're voted on the maps.

But we know that we also have New York and Chicago and a couple of a few other blue states that we've talked to that are also ready to pull some of these triggers if we need it.

You hope.

And then so you have two others that are relying on whether or not their governors are democratic on Tuesday.

That's New Jersey and Virginia in particular.

Let me ask you this because you brought up this independent redistricting thing, and when you talk to most black civil rights orgs, this is the thing that they are blown away by.

Did we do right by establishing these independent redistricting commissions in states?

Was that the right thing to do?

I think it was.

It gave us here in California, we picked up We picked up seats and places that we never served before.

We have a lot of first in different areas because of the redistricting independent redistricting Commission, because it puts four Democrats, four Republicans, five independents that way, and they choose them with people who haven't really been involved in politics that much.

That way.

They're coming in and they're listening to all the testimony with the open mind instead of a Biprotestant mind.

And I think they did really.

Well in California with the with the maths, and I think they should do that across the country because if they did, we wouldn't have this thing that Donald Trump just did and said just give me seats, because that's not the way to do it.

And that's that's how you being a hoping on a wing inner prayer that that that all the rest of the states would be in integrity, as it sounds like you all have been in the process.

The other thing is a lot of these independent redistricting commissions end up eliminating majority black district majority minority districts.

I just send majority, I'll send majority people of colored districts.

That's another thing that we have to consider.

But what I do know, as simbly member, is you are working hard on this initiation.

You want to talk to you for the first time.

Last week your voice was gone, so I know you're doing the work of the people.

I'm not going to keep you, but I do want to just offer you an opportunity to just close out.

If you were giving your final, your closing request or demand of the people to vote yes I Prop fifty, what would you say.

Well, I would tell our people that listen, we must do this.

Trump is trying to do.

A couple of things that just affects us, right, because I know people talk about affecting a lot of us, but I'm just going to talk about Black people.

First thing, he's trying to erase our history.

We just got museums.

He's trying to go in and wipe our history out like it never happened.

Do slavery happen.

Get over it.

Guess how I feel.

The black jobs.

You talk about black jobs, those federal jobs that people got, all those people got laid off.

A lot of them were black women, because black women in the seventies and eighties couldn't get big jobs in corporate America.

It was only a few of us.

So we went to the government.

I worked for the government as well.

We went to the government.

We worked, and so those folks are laid out.

When you look at the student loans our people have.

We have a house, some savings, and a job.

A lot of us don't have enough money to pay for our kids student loans.

We took out student loans.

Joe Biden and Kavin Harris were forgiving those student loans.

Left the right.

They wasn't pressing us to pay them because they know how hard it is.

Not Trump right now, he came in, He's like, if you don't pay these student loan, we're gonna take your house and your car.

It's just so many things that pertain to us.

My brother's keeper, he'll never invest with in that.

You know how they suspend choose black children.

He'll never invest in that.

It's so many things.

We're counting on hunger versus health care.

That's the thing that affects black people.

So vote yes on Prop fifty on Tuesday on the fourth, please do it.

Look, all of our lives depend depends on it.

And California is carrying this mantle because we know, so goes California, so goes the rest of the country.

And I think once we get past this part, we will win in twenty six.

I love it.

Assembly Member Tina mckinner.

She gotta come back and talk to us about some of the bills she has in mind and how the rest of the country can get behind what California is doing laying a blueprint no pun intended.

And of course we're telling folks to vote yes on Prop fifty.

Thank you for all your work.

I look forward to talking to you against this.

Thank you, Angela, and I want to come back and talk about reparations a little later.

You got it right after on November fifth.

We're gonna come back absolutely absolutely, Okay, thanks so much.

Okay, take care, bye bye.

Our next joining us is some when she is my big sister, y'all.

She has a heart for the people.

She lives every single day, lifting up black people, black women, black children doing the work of the Lord through Black Women's Roundtable, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

She recently celebrated thirty years with this tremendous organization.

I hate I missed it because if there's anything that I ever want to do, it is to celebrate my dear sister friend Melanie Campbell, who joins us.

Now.

No, how are you feeling, Sis, I'm.

Getting a little cold, but other than that, I'm great, you know, you know, paying attention to what's happening with snap and courts and making sure that we're out here supporting our people.

Who's gonna feed our people.

No matter what, no matter what, doing.

It over there with Tony Lee and others, and some of our state leaders are doing it on the ground, and some of these mayors are stepping up, and we're gonna still also fight for healthcare because it's not a it's not a choice either or which is what they're trying to play out to be.

But you know, it look good.

Good to see you, Good to be in in in community with you.

I know what they're physically, but you were there with me, girl, you are.

I was, and I hope you saw the love.

Uh, there's so many people that love that video and love you, so I hope you feel poor into.

I'm treasuring it.

I had some family stuff I had to deal with right after, but I've just been able to go back and listen and just it's just.

It's it's great to feel the love and so and and I don't take it for granted.

Well, I know you don't, and I want to just ask you mail you know, well, let me ask you this.

Has there ever been a time in your life that you can remember where circumstances in this country have been this dire?

And if so, what year was that?

No, not in my lifetime.

That's the same thing, my dad says, and he older.

Than us, good compares our in my lifetime, my parents, my grand of course for sure, right, but now not the level of evil.

In my opinion, it's very very much.

I feel the spiritual warfare as well as political and that you have people who have sold their soul for power.

When you say spiritual warfare, it's money.

Because my dad would agree with you, and he's a lot older.

He's no shade daddy, but he's nineteen.

He's born in nineteen forty two, and he said, never in his black life has he seen anything this bad and this blatant.

And so I guess my point is, I know that we normally function as a village.

We have pulled from each other and pulled from our community at this time to really find encouragement.

What is giving you hope?

What's giving you the desire to keep fighting?

Because the one thing I can tell everybody at home, Mail is not giving up.

She's doubled down.

She's like, Okay, I'm mad, but I'm about to turn all this anger into progress for my people.

So I want to know what's driving you.

You know, because my faith one but to the village.

We are a village, you know.

And as much as I'm not experienced this and we in this the rapid way has happened over the last now ten months going on eleven months, I also know history and that we know enough to know that we have overcome so much as a people and we're and that has not changed.

It's in our d and a to fight for our freedom.

Right, that's not a cliche, it's real.

And so they can do whatever and when you do the others, oh, it will come back right And We're not going no doc onware.

It's like you all can think you live in some fantasy about what you're going to put black people back to and even to your own demise.

But we have to know and and and really pour into uh, this next generation who really have been out here fighting, fighting to fight, and know that we have to also find ways to protect ourselves right to protect our peace if you will.

But but we're gonna win because evil never wins, right.

Uh, these folks that are here, I've never seen a dictator win at the end of the day, right, And it's what this man thinks he wants to be.

Uh in this country, and I could believe that.

You know, folks voted the way they voted last year because they thought that, for whatever the reason, they wanted to blame all of their problems on black people.

But at the end of the day, they're feeling it too.

White folks specifically who I'm talking about, not all white people, but quite a few of them did voted for a racist, sexist, rapist thief over an exceptionally qualified black woman, and they had done it against a white woman, you know, for whatever reason, this country.

But we're not going to where angel, you know, and we're gonna have to fight and protect ourselves.

And I do worry, you know, because this is a lawless administration and then having a Congress that's led by by weak people.

You know.

I started the show today Mail talking about, excuse me how this judge ruled today in Uh, this was in the Rhode Island case.

That the administration is moving with terror and lawlessness.

Uh.

It is both unlawful and it is terrorism on people.

And I really think it's important for us to double down on that framing because one it's accurate, and two we need to we need to not let our consciences be seared with the hot iron.

We need to be clear about what is happening and why this is so problematic and why nobody, nobody did anything wrong.

These are programs that our taxpayer dollars fund and that we invest in because we want the best for people.

So I think, what's mind going to me?

Because you talked about spiritual warfare earlier, and I want you to get into that before we before we leave.

But it's spiritual warfare with people who are regularly slinging the Good Book like they are the poster children for Christianity, Yet it feels like they're representing the values of something that is in start contrast with the Bible we read.

You know, so I want to I want to hear from you on why this feels like spiritual warfare and why when you you know, when you check in spiritually with yourself while you're like, oh, I know, it's spiritual warfare because X y Z.

For those at home who are feeling kind of torn about that, well.

You know what I say.

I'm not a preacher, but I just be married to one.

I did not know that.

I never come on first lady.

Lay but anyway, but you know, when you think about and I was listening to Reverend Warnock and listening to Jamal and my pastor and others and my sister who's you know, retired, So you know.

So it's simple what you do to the least things, you've done it under me.

So you're not gonna feed people, You're not gonna you gotta take away people's ability to have health care.

You have to take away people's right to have a quality life for what at the end of the day, Right, So, at the end of the day, I believe that what you do the least of these you've done, unto me, And so that's that's the foundation of it.

And you talking about not feed people seriously, right, and then playing games out here and so you know, in the social media world, you know, trying to make this about black women and all these kinds of things that they're doing.

But at the end of the day, if folks don't get get the ability to feed their too, that you know, that has no color, that has to do with your lot in life.

And so that that part of it to me is that probably the most corrupt, uh, and the second being about dealing with health care, and so it's really, uh, you have the ability to really you have to have something very very deeply disturbing about your soul to be able to do some of the things that they're doing.

On top of the way the violence and the cruelty and say, well here people say, cruelty is the point right as a and if you want to be a dictator and one of the things that and this is no shape on no kings.

People people see the monarchy, they don't get that.

No, no, no, we're talking about no dictator, right, that's what we're talking about.

Like this country is really, we might as well say we're living in one because because the law is not being followed.

It's gonna be interesting to see, even with the court deciding a couple of hours ago that they have to provide snap benefits, will they do it?

Yeah, well they need the button to do it right, or will the Supreme Court slap that back down and give this man one more out of illegal power in my opinion, And and so that's the other part of it too.

You have all these different levers.

But but again I hold on to the faith to know that.

The Bibles used to build.

To uh uh say slavery was okay, talk about it, so that history is still there and being able to know that when I think about what I'm seeing in the faith community, that folks, especially in the Black church, are stepping up.

And that's that's part of learning from the history.

Like we have to we have to fill in the gap.

We have to do that to make sure that our people at least have the have those basic needs while we fight to fight against and create what this new thing looks like because it won't be the same.

Yeah, it won't be the same, there's no way.

Because it was a lot of things that we now know that require there to be surreal changes to what quote unquote this democracy ought to be, to try to make sure that the children and children and children that are coming up behind us will have a better shot at this quote unquote democracy living Absolutely.

Well, ma'am.

I'm grateful for you.

I'm grateful for the work you continue to do, for the encouragement that you offer, both in word indeed and all of the things that you do.

I just want you to know I'm definitely praying for you and for the survival and hopefully the thriving of this country and all the people who absolutely deserve their right to attain and achieve the American dream.

But I want you to know that in an era where they're trying to take our votes away, I am certainly grateful for the clarion calls you've issued, the flags that you dropped.

I want you to know that, even in the moments where you haven't felt heard or seen that you are congrats on thirty years.

I pray for thirty more.

But I also pray for ease in your work, because I know that you've had to fight a lot as a black woman to be able to hold the same platforms that your male counterparts have had with ease.

I pray that people will not only see you but give you your just due because that's what equity would do, and that's the least of what is required in this moment.

But thank you sis for all you do and know you've ever had assist the soldier in me.

Yes, well that was I'm going to say.

It's like, you know, I know where it has.

I love what you and your colleagues are doing and speak to them.

I guess a good leader knows how to and I follow you, my sister, like we did before, because that's what it takes.

It's put and I do believe that, you know, intergenerational leadership, but also being able to shift when needed.

And that's what we have to do because you know, we all get tired and weary, right and well doing, but you know it's gonna be all right, and we're not going to let the devil still our joy and we're not gonna let these crazy folks do that.

And we have to also to celebrate.

So I think it was able to allow.

Myself to celebrate, which was you know, hard, but it was fun.

And and then the thoughts that have been, including you, sharing that I would take that with me, keep going and shifting to do things.

Thirty more years will look a little different than the last time.

It's gotta run out.

Yeah, well we got your bag mail.

Thank you so much for joining us.

This is Melanie cam but y'all make sure you follow her at Coalition Builder on Instagram.

Definitely make sure you check out NCBCP, which is the National on Black Civic Participation and Black Women's Roundtable where every black woman I know, if she's on the right side of history and in building a good legacy, has a seat at Melanie Campbell's table.

So thank you, sispiate, love you y'all.

You know, as mel just said, we are not gonna let the devil steal our joy.

But the devil also will not steal our votes, our healthcare, or our neighbors snap benefits, because that is our most reasonable service.

So as you all go out today, for those of you who will celebrate Halloween to trick or treat, do not fall for this trick bag that this man at the top of this country is trying to give us.

Make sure that you are staying informed.

I know there's a lot of information coming at you every single day at Native Lampod.

We want to make sure that we're giving you access in real time to the information as it comes in.

I'm trying to work really diligently to get you all all of that information on Tuesday.

As you all know, this is our makeup day.

Tuesday.

We have some technical issues and you didn't get to hear from the likes of Adallie to Grahalva, who is the daughter of Raoul Grahalva, the congressman who passed.

May God rest his soul.

I admired him deeply.

I'm looking forward to having that conversation.

We're gonna keep talking about Prop fifty and y'all some breaking news on Tuesday.

If you are in Seattle, please make sure you join me at Bener Royal Hall, where I will be moderating and unfiltered, completely real, an amazingly authentic conversation on election night after the polls have closed with Kamala Harris are Forever Madame Vice President.

I'll be talking to her about her book.

I'll be talking to her about the path forward.

Make sure you join us at ben Royal Hall in Seattle, Washington.

If y'all know you're a fly up if you can, you know why not, but make sure you check us out.

I'm really looking forward to that conversation with my big sister fellow October Baby, and definitely feeding her, giving her some good old Seattle food.

So I'm looking forward to seeing y'all there on Tuesday at seven pm again at Bennroy Hall.

And actually I just lied to y'all because you can drop your ballats off until eight pm, but drop them off a little early and come see us.

And then lastly, make sure if you have not that you like and subscribe to this podcast, that you comment let us know what you think.

It's been a little contentious lately.

I think some of that is by design.

Sometimes when you're starting to break through, you got haters.

And I think there are also times where people just blatantly misunderstand.

I think there are other times where people just blatantly disagree.

We disagree on the podcast every single Wednesday when we record it drops on Thursdays.

Solo pods drop on Tuesday.

I heard Bakari and Andrew got a it's not really a solo pod, it's a bipod.

That's you.

We have a quad pod, a solo pod a bipod.

These guys sat down and had a conversation.

They hogging up a lot of airtime too, So if y'all watch the episode we dropped early today, they talked a lot, but it was a really incredible conversation.

Their conversation in Houston that we recorded on Wednesday night, y'all, I'm serious is actually one of my favorite Native lamp podcast episodes ever, so please make sure you check that out.

I have talked a lot longer than I intended.

It is a Friday night.

Somebody just got paid and hopefully everybody will get fed.

Now that these judges have fallen on the right side of the truth and the law, no impoundments tell them to stop the real still until next time, I will see y'all on Tuesday.

Take care.

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