YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → The DILEMMA of the VICIOUS CIRCLE: Black Race

The DILEMMA of the VICIOUS CIRCLE: Black Race — Transcript

by Franck Zanu · 10,813 words · 1,846 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00We really have poisoned [music]
0:02our children to the point
0:04I don't see any return. [music]
0:06I am telling you blacks have never lived
0:09in freedom.
0:10>> This has gone too far.
0:24>> Hello guys and welcome to Zippy Zano
0:27Project Rethink. [music] My name is
0:29Frank Zano and I have a wonderful
0:32wonderful
0:33guest in the studio. You're going to
0:35hear about about her pretty soon. We
0:37have been talking for the last 1 year
0:39and
0:40>> [laughter]
0:41>> planning just to have this discussion.
0:43It never happened but as fate would have
0:45it
0:46something
0:47blew her into New York and she said I'm
0:49coming to the studio and my very good
0:52friend whom I have not met but we have
0:54so much in common
0:55Dr. Michelle Gamble
0:58had lived in Japan talked English with
1:00the Japanese government while the
1:02husband was in the army right maybe to
1:04be maybe serving the country outside. So
1:07we both have that in common. We're just
1:09talking about Japan and some few things
1:11you are going to hear from. So without
1:13further ado I want to welcome Dr.
1:14Michelle Gamble into the studio and
1:17really what a good thing to see you
1:19after a long discussion
1:20>> I know after so much discussion and I
1:22first and foremost have to thank you for
1:24being so accommodating. Your audience
1:27doesn't realize this but we're we're
1:29actually taping recording on a Monday
1:31which is out of the norm for Zano and he
1:34has made that completely
1:37for me. You know I flew in on Sunday and
1:40he was so accommodating. So thank you so
1:42very much.
1:43>> You're welcome because the things you
1:44said when we used to exchange emails and
1:47we were preparing for it those things
1:49are very dear to my heart and so it made
1:51me I said to myself I we got to have
1:53this conversation. This is a short visit
1:56so guys you're not going to hear
1:58everything for but Michelle Gamble's
1:59heart is deeply
2:03in love with her people, and she wants
2:06to do so much good. So, today we are
2:08going to be talking about what she has
2:10been talking about. You see, when you
2:12live in cultures like Japan
2:14>> Mhm.
2:15>> and you look at
2:16how things are organized, especially the
2:19young ones.
2:20>> Yes.
2:20>> And then you come back to either back to
2:23my own country, back in Africa, or
2:26anywhere, and you take a look at our
2:28people, then you really know that
2:30something is going off somewhere.
2:31>> Absolutely. I can remember you know, I
2:35lived in Nigeria for a year cuz I went
2:37to the University of Nsukka, and then I
2:40went to teach in Japan. And as you said,
2:43when you look at the Japanese culture,
2:45where everything revolves around this
2:48love and celebration of our children,
2:50and then I said, "Huh, this is kind of
2:53weird." But then I remembered when I was
2:54growing up in Central America and
2:56Belize, there was that celebration of
2:58childhood. There was [clears throat]
2:59that celebration of children and
3:00protecting our children and doing
3:02everything for our children. I remember
3:04how much my parents sacrificed for me,
3:06you know. And
3:08as I was coming here um
3:11this weekend, I said, "You know, we
3:14really need to dial things back in
3:17and focus on our children. So much
3:20debate and animosity is happening in our
3:22country and in fact in the world right
3:24now, and unfortunately, the people who
3:27suffer most always are the children.
3:29They are the ones without voices, from
3:31the ones in our wombs to the ones who
3:33are outside of our wombs. They're the
3:35ones who get misunderstood, forgotten,
3:40taken advantage of, and as we're going
3:42to talk about, we are actually
3:43sacrificing
3:45their lives, their prosperity, their
3:47longevity for our conveniences.
3:52That is the That is the point
3:55I agree with you. I think it's the
3:56Turkish or the Koreans, they have a
3:58saying it got stuck with me for a long
4:00time. They said, "Show me the young of
4:02any society and I'll tell you the
4:04quality
4:05>> of the adult society, yeah.
4:07>> Show me the young of any society and
4:09I'll tell you the quality of the adult.
4:11Now, what it is saying, you're saying we
4:13have to think and talk about how we are
4:15sacrificing the life of our children. I
4:18don't think the adults know that they
4:20are sacrificing the life of their
4:22because they also were raised
4:26their lives were sacrificed before they
4:28became mothers and fathers. Who else
4:30would walk away from children he made
4:32with a woman and not look back and then
4:34make another one with another woman
4:36and then make another one unless that
4:38has happened to him also.
4:40>> Mhm.
4:40>> So, Michelle, the problem is
4:43it's
4:44a vicious circle.
4:46>> Yes.
4:46>> So, where
4:48what happens with a vicious circle? What
4:49do you do when you have a situation of a
4:51vicious circle?
4:53>> Mhm.
4:54>> Cuz I I as as as I hear I don't like it,
4:56but they say hurt people hurt people.
5:00Uh it's cliche, it's stupid, [laughter]
5:02but
5:03if you use
5:07if you use
5:08a bad machine to produce another
5:10machine, that machine So, my question to
5:12you then,
5:13where What do you do when you have a
5:15vicious circle?
5:17>> There has to be some kind of stark
5:19disruption
5:21that creates a necessity
5:24for a change.
5:25And
5:27I think that's what we're seeing right
5:29now because
5:31for so many years we've been grifting on
5:35white guilt and white shame
5:37to give us certain handouts, to give us
5:39certain accommodations.
5:41And now, as with every pendulum, things
5:44are swinging the the the other way
5:47because you can only press that button
5:49of guilt and shame for so long before
5:51the person that you are inflicting that
5:53guilt and shame says, "Hold hold hold.
5:55You know what? I'm I'm I'm done with
5:57this."
5:58>> That's correct.
5:58>> And I think that's what's happening
6:00where they're Now we're seeing that
6:01backlash
6:03where people are saying, "This has gone
6:05too far."
6:06And this is a shock to our system
6:08because I guess we we we thought that we
6:11would continue to grift forever.
6:13And we're even to the point of thinking
6:16that we're entitled to the grift.
6:18And so there's that initial response
6:21from us, which is "What do you mean we
6:23can't do this anymore? How dare you take
6:25these things away from us?" But I think
6:28that
6:29the medicine is what is needed. That you
6:32know, especially from our cultures, that
6:34bitter tasting medicine.
6:35>> Yeah.
6:36>> That cod liver oil, that castor oil, the
6:38the bitters. That is what our systems
6:41need to put our systems back into
6:44balance.
6:45>> All right. So, something you just said,
6:46you said we need an external shock, a
6:49jolt for us to wake up and reset. Now,
6:51the question becomes
6:53two blind men trying to cross a bridge,
6:56who leads? So, who from within us is
6:58going to
7:00introduce of that shock?
7:03>> I I don't think it's about necessarily
7:06there being some mass change
7:10on a global perspective so much as it is
7:13a matter of
7:16individuals standing up and saying, "You
7:18know what? I'm going to do something
7:20differently."
7:21>> what would change with the vicious
7:22circle? The person is already wounded.
7:24It's what I mean.
7:26>> A wounded animal can heal.
7:28>> Mhm. Not by yourself unless it's some
7:31kind of
7:31>> but see, that's what I'm saying.
7:33>> Yeah.
7:33>> It's about creating the construct that
7:36enables us to heal. Creating the salve,
7:39creating the six
7:41creating
7:43what we always talk about, which is
7:44{quote} "community".
7:46Now, the challenge is that community is
7:49not necessarily hundreds of people,
7:52thousands of people.
7:53>> That's correct.
7:53>> Community is looking at putting into
7:57place one or two key people that you can
8:00use to help you to start your little
8:03hub.
8:04>> I like to be very realistic, okay? I
8:07look at things and I am not quick to say
8:10this is the solution.
8:11>> Mhm.
8:12>> But I like to look at things and see
8:14rather what people need to hear and
8:16remind people to understand also
8:19that
8:21this is it
8:22and this is what you've got.
8:23>> Exactly.
8:24>> All right?
8:24>> Yes.
8:25>> So, that way maybe the anger can go away
8:27because I'm not going to give anybody
8:29false hopes. What I'm trying to explain,
8:31and I like your optimism
8:33>> Mhm.
8:33>> is you have seen it too much, clear.
8:37>> Mhm.
8:38>> I want to hear, yes, yes, smaller
8:40communities are
8:42Okay, here you are. You're an
8:44African-American, I'm a Beninese
8:47naturalized American.
8:49We are both concerned about something
8:51that has to do with our people.
8:52>> Yeah.
8:54>> But there are people listening to us
8:55saying, "Oh, you people are goons and
8:57sell out. Why are you talking about us?"
9:00And that happens a lot in my own comment
9:02sections, right?
9:03>> Mhm.
9:04>> All right. So, a group of thieves
9:07They have been thieves for years.
9:09>> Mhm.
9:10>> One day they took a break, two of them,
9:11they were drinking and two said, "Guys,
9:14why do we go about taking things that
9:16doesn't belong to us? Why are we using
9:18this method of lifestyle?" And the other
9:20three said,
9:22"Yeah, we knew that you don't love your
9:23people."
9:26You understand? So, when you try to talk
9:27about something that what we are doing
9:30is not good.
9:31>> Mhm.
9:32>> There are people who are going to tell
9:33you
9:35you are a goon, you're are sell out,
9:36you're an Uncle Tom. So, if you and I
9:39are the ones to start so that a
9:42community would start and they are
9:44calling us goons and sellout, then I am
9:46asking you, how do you interrupt a
9:49vicious circle? That is where the
9:52solution. How do you interrupt it?
9:54>> Well, it reminds me of a famous saying,
9:56how do you eat an elephant? One bite at
9:59a time. You know, I think too many times
10:02when we look at our community, we get a
10:04sense of overwhelm. Like, oh my god, the
10:06problem is so big. Where do I even
10:08start? You start with self.
10:10And from self, you start with, you know,
10:13your family, your immediate family, if
10:15at all possible. Or, and when I say
10:17family,
10:18it doesn't have to be family from the
10:20construct of bloodline. It can be family
10:23from people who resonate with what
10:25you're doing. And that is what we
10:27actually in It Takes a Village Ministry
10:29have focused on, the whole sense of
10:32creating a community as a lifeline. I
10:35came to this concept not because of some
10:38grandiose ideology from textbooks. I
10:41came to it from survival. You know,
10:43recently we had the case with Lindsay
10:46Clancy, the woman who killed three of
10:48her children. And the world is in such
10:50an uproar and there's a lot of back and
10:52forth. And one of the things I look at
10:55is the fact that I could have been that
10:58Lindsay Clancy. What actually got me
11:01onto this pathway was when I had my
11:04fourth child.
11:05And I went through what I can now
11:07describe as postpartum depression, but I
11:09didn't understand it there. And I was
11:11scared for myself and cuz I said, I
11:14don't know if I can handle taking care
11:17of my children cuz I had four at that
11:19point. And I went into a psychiatrist.
11:22And when less than 15 minutes, she gives
11:25me a diagnosis of bipolar.
11:28And as I was walking out of that door, I
11:31felt that voice within me say,
11:34"Michelle, this is not who you are."
11:36And it was in that moment that I said
11:38I'm going to do three things. I'm going
11:40to figure out how to heal myself.
11:42I'm going to go back to school and learn
11:44how to help others to heal. And what the
11:46clarity of the voice told me was, "You
11:49can't do this on your own. We were never
11:52designed to be isolated individuals."
11:55And see, I had been going from country
11:57to country, from one
11:59um
12:00neighborhood to another because we were
12:01military at that point in time.
12:03And very isolated, even isolated from my
12:06own flesh and blood family that was in
12:08New York. And I find that today we're
12:12living very isolated lives. And so when
12:15we look at this woman who killed her
12:17children,
12:18no one bothers to ask the question,
12:20"Where did this start?"
12:22And it started where I started. I could
12:25have gone down that route. Because the
12:27other question people aren't asking is,
12:29"Well, what did they do?" Guess what?
12:32It's not that she didn't do anything.
12:35She went to several different doctors.
12:37At one point, she was on and off 13
12:40different medications.
12:4213 different medications, which are
12:44psychotropic, which are messing with
12:45your brain, messing with your mind.
12:48So that's what I'm saying that
12:50we have to go down to basics.
12:52>> I understand, but I'm coming back again
12:53to what I was saying.
12:55>> Mhm.
12:55>> That the Lindseys are one in a million,
12:59one in a thousand, and one in a hundred.
13:011994, Miss Yates, a Texas housewife, the
13:05husband was rich. They have three
13:07children or four children. One
13:09afternoon, she fed them all and one by
13:11one she drowned them. But that was in
13:131994.
13:16Now,
13:17I know how do you eat an elephant? It's
13:19a saying, bit by bit.
13:22But you know something,
13:24you may not finish eating this elephant
13:26in my lifetime. True.
13:29So, the point I'm trying to make, only
13:31one person came among us who was born by
13:34an immaculate conception. [laughter]
13:38That alone will not make all mankind.
13:40The problem we are discussing here, Dr.
13:43Migano,
13:44is not going to take the eating of an
13:46elephant to solve it. We need to accept
13:49this moment that it has become who we
13:52are. Now, let's go back to what we were
13:53saying in the green room before we came
13:55to the studio.
13:56Your question to me was
13:58post-1970
14:00>> Yeah.
14:00>> and pre-1970, why was it properly,
14:03beautifully organized pre-1970?
14:06That then I would believe that we can
14:08build this village.
14:09>> Mhm.
14:10>> And I have seen the same thing in my own
14:12country, on my own continent.
14:14>> The same thing in Jamaica.
14:15>> in Jamaica
14:17>> in Western Africa.
14:17>> I I spent the last 3 months and I'm
14:19going to do an episode and I'm going to
14:21go deep into that episode for people to
14:23understand.
14:28In the 1960s, when you see photos of
14:31Ghana, of Accra, Ghana, of Lagos,
14:34Nigeria, of Sierra Leone, Freetown, of
14:37Liberia, of Kingston, Jamaica, of Haiti,
14:391960s,
14:41and you see people walking in the
14:43streets post-election, uh sorry,
14:45colonization,
14:47the whites were still around.
14:51Today, if I show you the picture of 2026
14:56Lagos or 2026 Benin or Ghana or Sierra
14:59Leone, anywhere,
15:00you throw up.
15:02>> Trust me, I know.
15:03>> So, the same thing is what I saw here.
15:05Take a picture of any
15:07time in Harlem and uh the great debaters
15:11was from what?
15:12Whatever. And you ask.
15:14>> states. That's southern states.
15:17>> Here is my conclusion from what I've
15:19seen.
15:20When the supervision is in the hands of
15:24foreigners, blacks behave properly.
15:26>> Mhm.
15:30>> Here,
15:31on the continent, we beg and we nag and
15:34we whine
15:35>> Mhm.
15:36>> for independence.
15:37>> Mhm.
15:40>> And they gave it to us.
15:41>> Mhm.
15:42>> And not only did we trash the
15:43infrastructure that would keep life
15:46and make children grow better and go to
15:48schools. No, no, we trashed the entire
15:50infrastructure and stole the money. Over
15:52here, you whine, you kicked, you
15:55complained for civic uh civil rights.
15:58>> And we get welfare.
15:59>> And we got welfare.
16:00>> Mhm. Mhm. Yeah.
16:02>> When the supervision got into the hands
16:04of blacks,
16:06here, things that are going down. In
16:09South Africa,
16:10there was order.
16:11>> Mhm.
16:13>> The level of crime we are seeing today
16:15and decadence in that country
16:18was not there even though there was the
16:20evil apartheid.
16:22>> And I think a big part of it is that
16:26under the behest of the Westerners,
16:30there were standards and principles that
16:33we had to adhere to.
16:35>> Okay.
16:36>> But then, post-1960s,
16:39going into your '70s,
16:41and post {quote} {unquote} colonialism,
16:44we were the ones in charge.
16:46>> Yes.
16:46>> And what I've shared with people all the
16:48time is that I've taught in several
16:50different school systems.
16:52And I find it fascinating that when I've
16:55gone to the school systems that we run,
16:59we don't hold ourselves to those
17:00standards. We don't hold our students to
17:03those standards. In fact, when I went
17:06into those schools and I said, "Look."
17:08And I told my children
17:10in the classroom, I said, "I'm going to
17:12be harder on you than any teacher you
17:15have ever met
17:17because it is my job to prepare you for
17:19this world and nobody out there owes you
17:22anything.
17:24All hell broke loose. That was not what
17:27they wanted.
17:28>> But that is a photo you just
17:29>> the administration wanted. That is not
17:31what the I had more headaches from our
17:34African-American parents than any other
17:37parents. I had more headaches from our
17:39administrator
17:40teaching at predominantly black school,
17:44black-run school. In fact, I ended up
17:47leaving those schools because at the end
17:50the superintendent of the school changed
17:53my grade
17:54so that a student could graduate. That
17:57student all throughout the year I had
17:59given the administration, I'd given the
18:02parents warning that these the student
18:04was failing and saying, "Look, I am more
18:07than happy to stay after school to tutor
18:09this child." Nobody wanted to pay any
18:11attention cuz he was a player on the
18:13football team.
18:15So,
18:16we don't hold ourselves to any standards
18:18anymore.
18:19>> want to ask you why because I keep
18:21saying it and I have asked the entire
18:23black race to look into that thing.
18:26Maybe
18:26>> Because it's too easy for us to blame
18:28someone else.
18:29>> It's not too easy.
18:31>> It is very easy for us to blame Mr.
18:33White Man.
18:34>> No, you don't find something on such a
18:36You don't find something on such a mass
18:37level because people just chose to do
18:38it. I don't believe so. And this is why
18:39many people try to misunderstand me.
18:40When when something is happening, I I I
18:41take a deep unless it's little tiny. I
18:42take a deep interest in saying, "How can
18:43this become so predominant?" So quickly.
18:44Then I will take a deeper look into it.
18:45I don't think that we woke up and we say
18:45we love blaming someone. You said
18:46something over there which you and I
18:47both and you lived in the city of
18:48Nagasaki. So I went into Nagasaki and
18:48Hiroshima in 1945 three times. And I
18:49happen to speak with survivors
18:51>> it's little tiny. I take a deep interest
18:53in saying, "How can this become so
18:55predominant?"
18:57>> So quickly.
18:58>> So quickly. Then I will take a deeper
19:00look into it. I don't think that we woke
19:02up and we say we love blaming someone.
19:04You said something over there which you
19:06and I both and you lived in the city of
19:08Nagasaki. So I went into Nagasaki and
19:10Hiroshima in 1945 three times. And I
19:13happen to speak with survivors also.
19:15>> Yeah.
19:16>> Japan almost refused to build the
19:18monument to remind its people of the
19:20atomic bomb.
19:22Finally, the UNESCO and the United
19:24Nations said, "We would pay for the gas
19:26the peace
19:27fire." And they said, "All right, do
19:28it."
19:29>> [laughter]
19:29>> And you were telling me you saw that
19:33behavior
19:34>> Yeah.
19:34>> that Japan would maintain a warm,
19:37beautiful relationship with the West.
19:40For not just shooting them with guns,
19:42we're talking dropping an atomic bomb on
19:45them. And when I lived in Japan, when
19:46you say you're from America, not a
19:48single animosity towards you. You see
19:50their health their mental health
19:53is from that that they don't hold the
19:56>> grudge, the bitterness.
19:58>> So, here you are a black mother and a
20:00teacher in the school. You proposed what
20:02would have made your students better.
20:04You were attacked by
20:06people of your color. I promise you
20:08because I've seen this with my friend of
20:09friend of mine who finally couldn't take
20:11it anymore. He left the urban school,
20:13she was a black teacher, and went to a
20:15white town.
20:16Proposed the very thing
20:18they screamed at her and the white
20:20people didn't just buy it.
20:22They repackaged it for her to use in
20:24their school. So, what you propose, if
20:25you had done it in a white school, they
20:27would have embraced it.
20:28>> Mhm.
20:29>> So, my question, how do you fix
20:32a vicious cycle? I agree with you. Some
20:35form of an external
20:37shock.
20:39But let's talk so those listening can
20:40benefit. A young black couple say, "What
20:43do we do with our children? We're about
20:44to raise children." Maybe they can
20:46listen to us.
20:47Because Michelle, we really have
20:49poisoned our children to the point
20:53I don't see any return.
20:55>> And
20:57>> I don't see any
20:58>> I know you're going to get lots of
20:59comments
21:00on this.
21:01>> Say it because we need it.
21:03>> in time
21:04when When speak with individuals, when I
21:07speak with families, when I speak with
21:09parents,
21:10I say to them, at the end of the day,
21:14your children were given to you.
21:16And so,
21:18do what you need to do for your
21:19children. It's not about trying to save
21:21the whole black community.
21:22>> Mhm.
21:22>> It's about looking out for your children
21:26and saying, "How do we optimize
21:29the lives of our children?"
21:31>> Where is she going to learn this from?
21:33Michelle. Let's be For me, that's what I
21:36look at before I That's why I'm very
21:37pessimistic person. It makes me solve
21:39problems.
21:40Where is
21:41Shakwana going to learn these things
21:43from? Where? Where is she going to learn
21:45it?
21:45>> Well,
21:46>> Just because she hurt you.
21:47>> She's going to learn it because of
21:50listening to me, but also listening to
21:52the life that I'm leading.
21:54>> Yeah, but they threw you
21:55They didn't support you in the school
21:56system with the structure.
21:57>> So, I I I moved I moved out to a
22:00different to a different location.
22:02>> let's let's look into the damage. And
22:04let's turn it this way.
22:05>> Okay.
22:06>> Okay, this is serious.
22:07You were talking about the victimhood
22:08and all these things.
22:10Was it yesterday or the day before?
22:11Maybe last week.
22:12>> Mhm.
22:12>> Spike Lee threw a block party
22:15>> Mhm.
22:16>> for Michael Jackson. Do you know the
22:17music that was played throughout?
22:19>> Mhm.
22:20>> Do you know that Michael Jackson music
22:22something something they don't care
22:23about us?
22:24>> Mhm.
22:25>> Do you know that song?
22:26>> Yeah.
22:27>> That was the song they played.
22:30Al Sharpton was on stage dancing like an
22:32old crocodile.
22:33>> Mhm.
22:33>> Spike Lee was dancing. Everybody was
22:35dancing because the lyrics Who Who do
22:37you think they're talking about? They
22:39don't care about us.
22:40>> Yeah. Yeah.
22:42Well, why should they?
22:43>> That's correct.
22:44>> I I don't understand.
22:45>> it on [laughter] on Instagram this
22:46morning and people are celebrating it.
22:48And I'm asking, "Here you are Spike Lee
22:51is a multi-millionaire. Al Sharpton is a
22:54rich man. All the people I saw there are
22:56highly educated
22:58>> business people. You are playing the
23:00song, dancing to it, telling your
23:01children that you are waiting for the
23:04white men to care about us.
23:07>> I think they're bipolar.
23:09It It It makes no sense. What If you
23:12claim that this man and this culture is
23:15so hideous,
23:16>> That's what I was going to say.
23:17>> why are you enamored?
23:19>> That's correct.
23:20>> Why do you have a need to get their
23:22accolade? I I
23:25See, I grew up in a different family. I
23:27grew up with a West Indian family. And I
23:29actually grew up like I said in in
23:31Belize in Central America. When I came
23:33to this country, it was my first
23:34encounter with {quote} racism when I
23:37went away to school at Phillips Andover
23:39Academy.
23:40And
23:42I guess when I when I looked at my
23:44African-American counterparts,
23:47I didn't have that same sense of not
23:49knowing that I was awesome because my
23:52parents made sure that I would always
23:54knew that I was awesome. It had nothing
23:56to do with the color of my skin. It had
23:59to do with who I was as a member of the
24:02Young family. And it's the same thing
24:05that I tell my children that you are a
24:07gamble and you adhere to certain things
24:10because this is what we expect from you
24:13as a member of this family. I don't care
24:15what anybody else is doing.
24:17You are a member of this family.
24:20So now, when I teach our children in our
24:23general systems and I go out and we do
24:26community outreach, I say the most
24:28important thing for us to teach our
24:30children is that they are powerful. They
24:33have such potential. They have so much
24:35ability and that's why I don't accept
24:38second best from them.
24:40>> Okay.
24:40>> Why Why should I when I know how
24:41brilliant you are?
24:42>> So, if a white girl says, "Zahau, I like
24:45you."
24:45>> Mhm.
24:46>> and I accept it.
24:48Omarosa said, "I'm a bunny." What do you
24:50What do you call it, right?
24:52>> Mhm.
24:52>> Okay. Joy Reid said,
24:54"White men are the most dangerous and
24:56wicked in this country. Followed by uh
24:59uh
25:00Don Lemon.
25:01>> Mhm.
25:02>> Uh
25:03many of them.
25:04>> Yeah.
25:04>> Right?
25:04>> Mhm.
25:05>> So you said, "Don't marry them
25:07because you're a goon, you're a sellout.
25:09Don't do business with them. If you do,
25:10you're a sellout. You've treat a
25:12betrayer of your race."
25:13>> Mhm.
25:14>> But they should care about us.
25:16>> Mhm.
25:17>> And so you did a block party and the
25:18music is to inform your children that
25:20you see these people, they don't care
25:21about us.
25:22>> Mhm.
25:23>> How can Spike Lee, who lived in a white
25:25country
25:26the opportunity
25:28to become that
25:30iconic movie maker, successful
25:32>> Mhm.
25:33>> still saying that the white did not care
25:36about me. Al Sharpton is working at MS
25:39Now, which was MSNBC
25:42>> Mhm.
25:42>> Okay?
25:42>> Yeah.
25:43>> The first time in his life that he made
25:45salary, millions.
25:47>> Yeah.
25:48Especially given his history.
25:50>> The whole station is owned by white
25:51people, but he's dancing on the stage to
25:53a song that says, "They don't care about
25:54us."
25:54>> Mhm.
25:55>> Joy Reid has one of the best
25:58opportunities to work at MSNBC. So Don
26:01Lemon, we'll see in CNN and many, many
26:03more.
26:04>> Mhm.
26:05>> But they turn around and say, "They
26:06don't care about us."
26:08So if you're waiting for these people to
26:10care about us, which they should because
26:11they did care about you at a certain
26:14time, what they did, they knew it would
26:16save you. Let's go to LBJ.
26:18>> Mhm.
26:19>> Okay.
26:20I've heard so many times
26:22this very deranged and demeaning stupid
26:25statement that LBJ knew and could read
26:28black mind, that if he gave them welfare
26:33which according to the black people
26:35he knew if he gave them welfare, they
26:37would take it so that the family would
26:39destroy. He could read their mind. Okay,
26:42fine.
26:42>> But but you and I
26:44you and I both know that
26:47the creation of welfare wasn't uh simply
26:50about black people.
26:52It was about the entire United States.
26:55Exactly.
26:55>> Okay. But the here is the thing. We
26:58actually
27:00marched.
27:01>> Mhm.
27:02>> And the civil right includes give us
27:05something, right?
27:07So
27:07>> affirmative action.
27:08>> Yes, it got to a point where I think he
27:10did actually listen and thought, "Look,
27:12do something to quiet in people." Just
27:15like recently with the work culture,
27:17they finally Harvard, Yale, and all
27:19these schools yielded to the DEI and
27:21they did it because they cared.
27:25>> I don't know if they cared so much as it
27:27is that they knew that they could
27:31benefit from it.
27:33>> Benefit in what way?
27:34>> Well, think of it.
27:36For many parents, if a child whines and
27:39whines and throws a tantrum and
27:40complains, many parents will say, "You
27:43know what? Just give the kid the cookie.
27:44Just give the kid Just shut them up.
27:46Just give them whatever the heck they
27:47want."
27:48>> Yes.
27:48>> Just so that we can move on and take
27:50care of other things.
27:51>> Yes, that is the what I what is done
27:53for. That means you care about moving on
27:55to take care of other things.
27:56>> it's not that you It's not that you
27:57said, "Oh, I'm giving the my child a
27:59cookie because I care about my child."
28:01You're just like, "I just want my child
28:03to shut up."
28:03>> Well, on the way to work
28:04>> take care of business.
28:06>> Well, you're taking but you're taking
28:07care of the business that will benefit
28:10eventually everyone. But if you allow
28:12this screaming to stop me of taking care
28:14of business,
28:15important things will not be done.
28:17Sometimes you have to do things
28:18selfishly to get the result. So the
28:20point I'm making is
28:22>> But when we go back to the whole issue
28:23of welfare again, LBJ implemented
28:27welfare as a way of getting the entire
28:29nation back on its feet.
28:31>> Yes.
28:32>> Not because he had this love affair with
28:33black people.
28:34>> That's correct. But that is what we were
28:37saying.
28:38>> Mhm.
28:39>> When the supervision was in the hands of
28:42people who are other than us,
28:44>> Mhm.
28:45>> we organized properly.
28:47It's shown in Africa, it's shown in the
28:48Caribbean, and it's shown among
28:50African-Americans here in the United
28:51States, right? But when you got the
28:53freedom to whine, at one point you
28:54didn't have the freedom to whine. You
28:56didn't have the freedom to complain.
28:57>> Cuz nobody cares.
28:58>> Nobody cares. And if you do, sometimes
29:01the result is bad. But when they gave us
29:03the freedom to whine
29:04>> and encouraged the whining.
29:06>> They encouraged the whining, okay?
29:07Because some faction, because we have a
29:09two-party system, says, "Yes, I can see
29:12what they did to you is not So,
29:14whine more." And we whined. And that
29:18whining allowed many blacks now to get
29:20into politics. And when they're
29:21campaigning, what do they tell you? "I
29:23am coming into politics to save you."
29:25>> And give you some stuff.
29:26>> And give you some stuff. And we voted
29:28them all who are not supposed to win
29:30elections. Ilhan Omar,
29:33uh, and many more. But because we
29:35thought we've always said You know what
29:37is funny?
29:39Till today, just last month I was at the
29:42education meeting.
29:43>> Mhm.
29:44>> And parents were shouting and screaming
29:46that they should allow more teachers
29:47that look like us, so the kids can see.
29:50>> Mhm.
29:51>> But you went through an experience where
29:53you looking like them propose what
29:55should be done, and they said
29:58"Who the hell do you think you are?"
29:59>> Mhm.
30:00>> So, I'm going back again to LBJ. I don't
30:02think any well-educated, sensible,
30:04intelligent human being would say LBJ
30:06could read the mind of black people.
30:08Now, if he read the mind of black
30:11people, then he didn't actually do
30:13anything because he could see that it is
30:15It is in your mind already that if I
30:17give you welfare, you will destroy your
30:18family. So, he didn't do anything if he
30:20could read your mind. He couldn't read
30:22the mind of black people.
30:24The question, therefore, is
30:27he did it.
30:29But why did you respond to it?
30:32>> And
30:34again, I pull up my own personal
30:36experience because
30:39it does create an interesting question.
30:42You know,
30:43at some point in my life, I did have to
30:46accept food stamps.
30:47>> Yes.
30:48>> But there was such shame. You know, I
30:51remember going up to the counter and I'm
30:53trying to hide the fact that I you know,
30:56I was so grateful for the fact that they
30:58turned it into a little card that it
30:59looked like an actual credit card.
31:01Before that it wasn't. You know, so
31:03whenever you used your food stamps,
31:05everybody knew, everybody in the line
31:07knew that you were using food stamps.
31:09But then later on they turned it into a
31:10card that you could you know, use it
31:13like a credit card. But the way that I
31:16was brought up, the way that I was
31:17trained, everything within me was felt
31:21like
31:22uh, this is horrible. I couldn't wait to
31:25get off of the food stamps. It was the
31:27same thing with my my son.
31:30He became schizophrenic. He had to go on
31:32to disability. But we put together our
31:36resources to help him to heal and I
31:37said, "This is just a moment of time.
31:40This does not define who you are. There
31:43is no way on God's green earth that I
31:45want to see you on this disability for
31:46the rest of your life."
31:48So, he did what he needed to do. He went
31:51to got got trained as an aviation
31:53mechanic, got a job, and the
31:56moment he got a job, he cut off that
31:58disability.
31:59>> Now, the food stamp itself as a food
32:02stamp was not what made you ashamed.
32:04It's how others have used it before you
32:07collected it. Cuz you knew
32:09>> life.
32:10>> Yes, the stigma that had come to it.
32:11That's why they changed it from food
32:12stamp to snap.
32:14>> Well, the the thing is that there
32:16at a at a certain moment in time, we as
32:19a people were very proud.
32:21We didn't have much, but the
32:24but what we had was what we valued.
32:27And we took care of the things. You
32:29know, if we had a dirt
32:31floor, we would sweep that dirt floor.
32:34But now
32:35>> that?
32:36>> That's what I'm asking. How is it that
32:39we shifted so tremendously?
32:41>> I meant. Everywhere you look, when the
32:43supervision is in the hands of
32:45foreigners, we did better.
32:49>> So, the question becomes
32:51are you saying that we need an overseer
32:55in order to get us back into shape? Or
32:57are we going to get to the point where
32:59>> No, ask that question and stay on it.
33:01>> Because
33:03again, if I if I look at the West Indies
33:07the same thing happened. Where before we
33:10had professionals. You know, that's why
33:12my grand uncle Marcus Garvey, when he
33:14came over here
33:15>> Oh, Michelle,
33:17>> He created the UNIA. Where it was, you
33:20know, we had the professionals going
33:22through Harlem.
33:23>> Okay.
33:23>> The nurses in their in their uniforms,
33:26the the doctors, the the lawyers, the
33:29the police officers.
33:31>> I'm telling you Marcus Garvey came here
33:34when the supervision was in the hands of
33:36foreigners.
33:37>> Mhm.
33:38>> Your question to me is that what what is
33:40your was your question?
33:42>> So, my question is, are you saying that
33:44we need an overseer
33:46to get us back into shape?
33:48>> Well, I don't I don't say things. I
33:50question conclusion.
33:52>> Well, what?
33:54>> I Here is it. Uh
33:56you know, I mean, and you know,
33:58we had great conversation on the phone
34:01and you really touched me. You're you're
34:02a woman, you know.
34:04But here is it, Michelle. There are
34:06certain things you have to observe.
34:07>> Mhm.
34:08>> And when you observe them, if you're
34:10able to, and it's easy for people like
34:11you and I to put our pride aside our ego
34:14and say, I see something good in this.
34:15>> Mhm.
34:16>> When we say that the Japanese try hard
34:19>> Mhm.
34:20>> whoever started it to clean them of any
34:23animosity toward the Westerner, maybe
34:25because they saw what they can benefit.
34:30It is impossible for us to go back and
34:31allow.
34:33We can't. How do you do the allowing?
34:35Another match to call them to come in?
34:37>> No, no, not not not an allowing so much
34:40as it is a
34:42remembering of who we are. So,
34:46when I went to Japan and you went to
34:48Japan, I was just amazed at the fact
34:51that the people there
34:55I don't know if it was just a matter
34:57that they had come to terms with
34:58realizing that it wasn't going to
35:01benefit them to have animosity.
35:03>> That's what I mean.
35:04>> And so, perhaps that's the the the
35:07solution because even when I work with
35:10my clients, when I work with people who
35:11have gone through traumatic experiences
35:14and they're holding on to that
35:16bitterness, they're holding on to the
35:18pain cuz what I keep on sharing with
35:19people is that trauma is not the event.
35:22Trauma is the relationship that we
35:24choose to hold on to with regards to the
35:28event. So, there are many things that
35:31have happened in my life that are not
35:33traumatic to me because I do not hold on
35:37or ascribe to a certain relationship to
35:40that event. I do not allow that event to
35:42define who I am. But, there are many
35:44people who are invested in that
35:46identity, that identity of woundology,
35:49that identity of victim. And at a
35:52certain point, I say to them,
35:55"How is that working out for you?
35:57Is that working?"
35:59And I think that's the question that
36:01each one of us has to ask.
36:03>> see it and that's why I keep talking
36:05about it and many people are agreeing
36:06with me.
36:07>> Mhm.
36:08>> I don't know how to say it in a way not
36:11to sound like they say, "Oh, no, you're
36:12putting your people down." I'm not going
36:14to be proud and let people die. Look, I
36:16can take care of myself.
36:18>> Yeah.
36:19>> My sister has just passed away from
36:20something she shouldn't have died from
36:23back home in Africa because the
36:25hospitals are in shambles. Nothing they
36:29can do about it.
36:32>> There are three schools in three towns
36:34here in Connecticut in Fairfield County.
36:37I'm not going to say their names.
36:38>> Mhm.
36:39>> And I know the schools. So, they've
36:41created it that every year they allow
36:44five inner-city kids
36:46and they will pay for taxi or busing so
36:48they can come to that school. Okay?
36:50These are
36:51100% almost 99% white schools.
36:54>> Mhm.
36:55>> So, they would pick, I think by a lotto
36:57or I don't know how they do it, and five
36:59kids go to.
37:00And I have been able to follow for the
37:03last 15 years
37:04>> Mhm.
37:05>> follow the trend.
37:07>> Mhm.
37:07>> Every kid picked from the very urban
37:10schools where they went to the public
37:11schools and they were failing and
37:12sleeping in class. When they got into
37:14[clears throat] these towns and these
37:14schools, all of them came out. One of
37:16them, the mother just met me 2 weeks ago
37:18to say, "Where is your son now?" He's
37:2035. He's holding his place. He's now a
37:22captain in the army and so and so forth.
37:24The school is supervised by foreigners.
37:27And the very kid who would be fighting
37:29and screaming and sleeping in class
37:31suddenly goes to that town and sit up
37:33right and listen because they have
37:35standards
37:36if you follow.
37:38So, your question therefore should we
37:41Well, it's it's it shouldn't be a
37:43question. We've seen it long enough.
37:48But I don't buy it that we can they will
37:51wake up and listen to a talk like this
37:53and they're going to change.
37:54>> No, I I
37:56Well, that's taking us back to one of
37:58the original concepts.
37:59>> preaching is this.
38:01You said people who made a choice to
38:04have a victimhood. Victimhood is not a
38:06choice.
38:07No.
38:08They were trained to believe it because
38:11it came from people who were
38:13influential.
38:14>> Mhm.
38:14>> The Jesse Jacksons, the Al Sharptons
38:17>> who profited
38:18>> who profited from it. They were
38:19influential. And they spoke in a
38:21language to make you think that they
38:23care. And maybe, God forbid, maybe they
38:25do. I don't know. The Crump lawyer and
38:28the Jesse Jacksons, you said they don't
38:31care about us. Okay? The Michael Jackson
38:34song was a song of the block party by
38:36Spike Lee to tell the young ones, the
38:38whites don't care about us. But when
38:41their young ones care enough to befriend
38:44Nolan Wells and an accident happened,
38:49you sold everything you have. If you can
38:51bury this boy, you would.
38:54When they stay away from you,
38:56>> then you have another problem.
38:57>> another problem saying they don't care
38:58about us.
39:00We have to go back, truly.
39:03And maybe that also is not enough,
39:07maybe.
39:09So,
39:10we can talk about the thing. There are
39:12people out there who would listen and
39:14say, "Oh, wow, I learned something from
39:16this." This is what has kept me going
39:18for 2 years now.
39:19The comment sections. There's a man now
39:22who is married in the Navy, just moved
39:23to Groton, Connecticut and wrote me. He
39:25said, "I just want to hear your voice
39:27because you don't know what you've done
39:28to my me and my family. You've given us
39:30a different" So, those are the things
39:32and like I agree with you that
39:33individuals would listen and they would
39:36pick something. But it is really, really
39:38important that we stop saying young kids
39:42will go to jail because somebody hate
39:44them. It's not true at all.
39:46We have really sacrificed
39:51chasing after what we call a civil
39:53right,
39:55an inclusion,
39:56>> Yeah.
39:59>> freedom.
40:00>> And I think it boils down to the
40:03narrative, as you were saying, that we
40:05keep on passing on to our children.
40:08And we don't stop to ask ourselves,
40:11"What are the consequences of that story
40:14that we're telling them?"
40:16If I tell you that you need affirmative
40:19action in order to get into a job or a
40:23school,
40:25what am I saying about you?
40:27When we look at what recently happened
40:29in Cambridge with this young man.
40:31>> Yeah, I guess so.
40:32>> You know,
40:33we have to start to ask ourselves, is it
40:36worth it
40:37to give ourselves
40:40a false sense of accomplishments?
40:43Because now we're not trying. Now we're
40:46not holding ourselves to that standard.
40:48Like I said, in the classroom,
40:50I wouldn't accept second-rated nonsense
40:52because I said, "You're capable of
40:54more." And to bring it even closer to
40:57home, I remember when I was
40:58homeschooling my children, my son is
41:01very quick, my eldest son, and very
41:03quick with mathematics.
41:05And his sister, not as quick as him.
41:08So at one point in time, he was doing
41:10her homework.
41:12Or her work, cuz we were homeschooling,
41:13so like everything is homework, I guess
41:15at that point.
41:16And I pulled him in the side and I said,
41:19"Do you think your sister is stupid?"
41:22And he said, "No, Mommy. I don't think
41:24my sister is stupid."
41:26So I said, "Then why are you doing her
41:28work?"
41:31I said, "If you're doing her work, then
41:34what you're telling her is that she's
41:35not capable of doing it for herself."
41:39And so when we lower these standards,
41:41when we when we say that we we have to
41:43have affirmative action, cuz now that
41:45everybody's upset because now we have a
41:48president that says we're not doing
41:49affirmative action, we're not doing DEI.
41:52And I'm asking myself,
41:54"Why would you want to be hired as a DEI
41:58person?"
41:58>> need it.
41:59>> "Why would you want to be hired as
42:01affirmative action? What does that say
42:03about what you think about yourself?
42:05That you feel that you need it?"
42:07>> we have to look at it differently, my
42:08friend. We need affirmative action. We
42:11need DEI.
42:13Why would you be asking for something if
42:15you believe you can do it for yourself?
42:17>> Exactly.
42:18>> Hold on. No, it is different. You said
42:20we don't need affirmative action. We
42:22don't need DEI. We do.
42:24That that was the first signal everybody
42:28should have known that we have come to
42:30accept that we cannot do what everybody
42:32else does.
42:33Therefore, we should ask for special
42:35programs to allow me to get in. It was
42:38an admission that a black man cannot do
42:41for himself what others did.
42:43>> is the irony is Zannah that we were
42:45doing.
42:46>> What were we doing?
42:47>> Prior to 1960, we were doing. We were
42:50accomplishing. We were excellent. We had
42:54schools. We had we were churning out
42:56quality
42:57>> I agreed that supervision was not in our
43:00hands. How many blacks were
43:02superintendent of schools in those days?
43:04No. How many blacks were in Congress
43:06saying I will fight for you? No. How
43:08many blacks was on television
43:09>> No, Zannah Zannah, remember. Prior to
43:111960, all we had were black schools.
43:15There was no white person in the black
43:17schools at that point in time.
43:19>> politics.
43:22How many blacks were on television
43:24spewing dirt?
43:26>> Well, we we didn't have all of that
43:28nonsense.
43:29>> So, you asked for it. They gave it to
43:31you.
43:32>> Mhm.
43:34>> Well,
43:35let's go back to prior to the '60s
43:38you're talking about.
43:39>> Mhm.
43:41>> When people face
43:44severe conditions,
43:46>> Mhm.
43:47>> they have two ways to go. You either die
43:49>> Mhm.
43:50>> or you would do what you never believed
43:52you have and see how it far to take you.
43:56>> Yeah.
43:56>> Okay. So, the experiment was carried.
43:59There was
44:00foreign supervision. That is clear. The
44:02country was in the hands of white people
44:03and you don't you don't walk the streets
44:05claiming your right like we do now.
44:07>> Mhm.
44:08>> No black man ever says to a policeman
44:10who says, "Can you show me your
44:11license?" You say, "Yes, sir."
44:12>> Mhm.
44:13>> Because you have been intelligent
44:14>> Yeah.
44:15>> under duress.
44:16>> Mhm.
44:17>> When you remove it, is what I'm trying
44:20to come to.
44:21>> Mhm.
44:21>> When you remove that threat, the duress,
44:24>> Mhm.
44:25>> the people become free.
44:28Your true essence, your true ability,
44:32is observed when you are free.
44:35>> Mhm.
44:36>> If you can still continue,
44:37>> Mhm.
44:38>> So, it means what we were doing before
44:40'60 was simply because we were under
44:42duress.
44:43So, it wasn't real.
44:45>> Well, we were under duress.
44:47>> Every immigrant who came into this
44:48country, majority of the immigrants, the
44:50Italians, the you know, others who came
44:52into this country,
44:54they were free.
44:55>> Mhm.
44:56>> And they were able to perform under the
44:58freedom.
45:02>> I I don't know if it was simply a matter
45:04of, quote unquote, we were under duress,
45:07so much as it is
45:08we had
45:11opted into the system.
45:14We decided that we were going to comply
45:18with the system. We were going to be
45:21regulated by the system.
45:23>> You mean now?
45:24>> No, no, no, no. Prior to 1960.
45:27>> Yes, that is what you need to do.
45:29>> I understand and I agree with you. But
45:31now,
45:33we're going boohoo and hollering and
45:35saying, "Down with the system. We don't
45:38want the system. The system is
45:39horrible." And so, when you look at our
45:42schools,
45:43they're disheveled
45:45because we choose not to abide by a
45:48system that has worked.
45:50>> they are describing as horrible,
45:52it's this one because we
45:54>> created.
45:55>> What I'm trying to say to you
45:57>> Well, lack of system,
45:58>> What I'm trying to say is this.
46:01When they make you free,
46:04freedom is a responsibility.
46:06>> Mhm.
46:07>> So, when they make you free
46:08>> [laughter]
46:09>> and you cannot perform in freedom, then
46:13you begin to describe that that free
46:15system
46:16system
46:16>> Mhm.
46:17>> as not created for me. Not because the
46:19system is bad, it's because you have
46:21never functioned in a free society. Is
46:24what I'm trying to point out.
46:25>> Mhm.
46:27>> No, let me repeat.
46:28Post '60,
46:29>> Mhm.
46:30>> there was no freedom.
46:33And you said you regulated yourself into
46:37the structure.
46:38>> Prior to the '60s.
46:39>> That's correct.
46:40>> Yes. Mhm.
46:41>> But I have said to you,
46:43the true essence
46:45and capability of any human being
46:48is discovered only when you're free.
46:51What you do when you're not free is not
46:53authentic. It's under duress.
46:56>> Well, I think you're
46:58>> means I am telling you blacks have never
47:00lived in freedom.
47:04Because that concept is not even black
47:06in the first place. You think when we
47:07were in Africa before the ship came we
47:09were free? No. We were under the thumb
47:11of tyrannic chiefs and kings.
47:14>> That's true.
47:16That's true.
47:17>> Let me repeat.
47:17>> we don't acknowledge that.
47:19>> We don't acknowledge that.
47:20Same as if we lived Kumbaya. No.
47:23Ask the Zulus of South Africa and the
47:24Benin people if they have ever lived
47:27free.
47:27>> You know, we talk about no kings, but
47:29that's what we
47:30>> No kings, but that's [laughter] what we
47:31had that made us live better.
47:35>> We talk about no kings, but that is
47:37exactly what we had that made
47:39>> the parents and the children all we
47:41want. We need to talk about that which
47:43people don't want to talk about. I am
47:44saying a black man has never lived in
47:46freedom because that concept itself is
47:49not there.
47:50>> Well, you're bringing up a whole
47:52philosophical
47:53>> Is it?
47:54>> question
47:54in terms of
47:56the concept of freedom.
47:59And the concept of freedom, as you said,
48:02is one where you are able to
48:04self-regulate.
48:05>> That's correct.
48:05>> Because you know that it is in your
48:07benefit to do so.
48:09>> That's correct. And that you don't even
48:10make an effort.
48:11>> As opposed to when you are being
48:13manipulated and you don't even realize
48:15it, but you think that you're free.
48:17>> That's correct.
48:17>> So, now people think that they're free,
48:19not recognizing that they're mentally
48:22being manipulated by several different
48:25actors in our own community.
48:28>> What they are not realizing is that they
48:30do not understand what functioning in a
48:33free society means. The responsibility
48:36that comes with A gentleman was
48:37screaming recently about white
48:38privilege, and I said, "Look, for the
48:40first time let me agree with you.
48:42They do actually have privilege.
48:44Unlike my previous videos.
48:46And I asked him, "Have you ever lived
48:49a privileged life?" He said, "No." And I
48:51said, "That's why you don't know what
48:53privilege means." I said, "Privilege is
48:55when you strain yourself, I won't throw
48:57my trash on the floor. Now, that is
48:59privilege.
49:02When you refuse to scream and lose your
49:04temper over a simple disagreement, that
49:07is a privilege. It is not comfortable at
49:09all. That is why their towns are very
49:12safe, clean, orderly.
49:14>> And their schools.
49:15>> And their schools. Now,
49:17is that what you're describing?
49:20And that is what we fail to tell each
49:21other.
49:23I grew up in Africa
49:24in one of the most tyrannic tribes ever
49:28before it became a country called Benin
49:29Republic. I've studied deeply their
49:32Bomai history and the other histories of
49:34the Yorubas and all of that. I've seen
49:37it with my own eyes.
49:39Their Ashanti history, their Zulu
49:41history.
49:42Who lived within those times and said,
49:44"No, Africa was this freedom."
49:46Do we have that concept of freedom when
49:499-year-olds can be given to marriage and
49:51their parents can say a thing. When
49:53female girls can be mutilated and they
49:55can't put up with it. What kind of
49:57freedom have we ever lived in?
49:58>> Exactly.
49:59>> Freedom comes with republics. Republics
50:02was first created only in the Western
50:04world.
50:05>> And that sense of responsibility.
50:07>> The sense of responsibility.
50:08>> Yeah. You know, I was joking with
50:10someone um yesterday
50:13about the fact that when when I look and
50:15compare your white schools with your um
50:19predominantly black schools, I said,
50:20"Ironically, one of the reasons why the
50:23white schools function a little bit
50:25better is because of the Karens."
50:28The Karen moms that go in and complain
50:31and make sure the teacher is doing
50:33teaching in the classroom
50:35and doing whatever they
50:36>> Because at home, the Karen really gives
50:37the attention. He does.
50:40>> Yeah.
50:40>> He does not necessarily ask Ben
50:43to go for errands.
50:45Because you have five children, five and
50:47a half children you can't take care of.
50:48Your three husbands are all in jail. So,
50:50now your 9, 11, and 13-year-old must And
50:53you keep saying to them,
50:55"I bring the food, so you do your
50:57>> Mhm.
50:57>> The Karen won't do it with his children.
50:59>> Mhm.
51:00>> They don't.
51:01>> Yeah.
51:02>> So, here is what I'm trying to say,
51:05which would make us understand. And if
51:06somebody wants to do something, then the
51:07person have to stop the victim who I
51:09understand. What you are suffering and
51:12complaining about is because you finally
51:14asked them to give you freedom. You
51:16don't have the concept because you've
51:18never lived because freedom is
51:20responsibility.
51:21>> Yes.
51:22>> Let me repeat. A man's essence, his true
51:25capabilities are observed only when he's
51:27free.
51:29>> But freedom comes with responsibility.
51:31>> That's correct. And so, this this yours
51:33>> in hand.
51:34>> They go hand in hand.
51:35>> But we want the freedom without the
51:37responsibility.
51:38>> Yes, because we never knew. Somebody
51:40else told us that we should ask for
51:42freedom.
51:42>> Yeah. And we think that it's about
51:45{quote} {unquote} being able to do
51:46anything you want.
51:47>> That's correct.
51:49>> that it's about doing
51:51>> it means to be free.
51:51>> as opposed to being able to choose
51:54wisely
51:55>> That's correct.
51:55>> in your best interest.
51:57>> That's correct. People always define
51:59freedom as to do. No. First, the word
52:02that
52:03pre-
52:04The word that precedes the dom is free.
52:06So, it means free from something. So,
52:09what what what free from what?
52:11Not free to do what. Free from what?
52:14What were blacks asking to be free from
52:17what?
52:18Free from what?
52:20Your essence, your capabilities, your
52:21values can still hold intact even when
52:24you're not free.
52:25And when you become free, it's the same
52:26way. Let me give you an example. Over
52:29close to quarter of a million Japanese
52:31were hauled into
52:33>> concentration camps.
52:33>> concentration camps.
52:34>> Yep. Here in the United States.
52:37>> How many years were they there? Three
52:39until the war was over. So, almost 3
52:41years. Not a single Japanese came out
52:43with illegitimate pregnancy. Put only 12
52:45and a half men
52:47and 20 women blacks into any place. Not
52:49a single woman will come out pregnant.
52:52And they will starve and kill each other
52:53with violence.
52:55>> Mhm.
52:56>> So, even when they were under duress,
52:58the Japanese,
52:59>> Mhm.
53:00>> they were still Japanese. When they free
53:01them, they were still
53:03>> Mhm.
53:03Mhm.
53:04>> They didn't turn onto each other with
53:06violence.
53:07>> That's correct.
53:08>> patterning.
53:08>> That's correct. And I'm just saying it
53:10doesn't mean we are putting our people
53:12down.
53:12>> No.
53:13>> This is my observation, and I have a
53:15strong feeling about it because I've
53:16seen it back home. I've seen it in the
53:18Caribbean.
53:19>> And I think you bring up a very
53:20important point that both of us probably
53:25um go through, which is this concept
53:27that if we address the issues, then we
53:32are being
53:35we're down putting down placing our
53:37community. When in reality, what I say
53:39to to is
53:41when [snorts] you go into a medical
53:42doctor,
53:43what is the first thing that you ask
53:44for?
53:45>> Diagnosis.
53:45>> A diagnosis.
53:46>> Yeah.
53:47>> You don't say, "Hey, slap me with the
53:48XYZ pills or shoot me up with blah blah
53:51medicine." You say, "I need to
53:53understand what is going on."
53:55>> Yeah.
53:56>> Because until I understand what is going
53:58on, I cannot create the proper response.
54:01>> Correct. But the blacks are asking that
54:03you should diagnose them. But when you
54:05see the fault,
54:07first tell me it wasn't my fault that I
54:09have the fault. So, if you diagnose me
54:11and I'm obese, don't say because of what
54:13I'm eating. Say because it's racism.
54:15According to What is his name? Who said
54:17that we are obese because of racism?
54:19>> Well, that's what Oprah is telling us.
54:21But anyway,
54:21>> That's correct. So, they say diagnose
54:24me, but don't blame me when you find
54:26anything. You understand?
54:28>> And and what I tell people is that
54:29that's the beauty
54:31of the root of the problem being with
54:34me.
54:35Because then I have the power to change
54:37it. I have the ability to change it.
54:39>> Unfortunately,
54:39>> But if it's if the if the reason why I'm
54:42obese is because of someone else,
54:46then I might as well pack it up. There's
54:48no There's no
54:49>> If the other one was the rule, meaning
54:51there are more blacks who think the way
54:53you and the service you have given to
54:54this country without complaining, you
54:56love the country. If If
54:58more of blacks were like that, we
55:01wouldn't have this episode.
55:03>> Yeah.
55:03>> So, we are outliers.
55:05>> Absolutely.
55:05>> And if we keep saying that because we
55:07are this way, therefore the others, then
55:08we're not going to solve the problem.
55:10Okay? I'll tell you something what we
55:12were saying from the beginning
55:14that
55:15whites do make us feel good
55:18when we are being validated by them.
55:21>> [laughter]
55:22>> So, 2008
55:242008
55:26a former first lady had gone to school,
55:28one of the most prestigious schools in
55:30this country. The country allowed the
55:32parents to work. They were traditional.
55:34They were conservative. They raised them
55:36very well. And she got into prestigious
55:38schools.
55:39When she was in primary school and high
55:40school, I believe teachers have told her
55:43how nice she was, how brilliant she was,
55:45how okay?
55:48In this country.
55:50All the way
55:51to becoming the president of the Chicago
55:54General Hospital.
55:56And all those times, she was never proud
56:00of this country. She said, "Why?"
56:04Because from the time she got into
56:06Princeton, Harvard, and became a lawyer
56:08in a law firm and all that,
56:10white people didn't wave flags for her.
56:13It was blacks who were praising her. So,
56:15she didn't see that praise as anything
56:17until 2008 August
56:20when she sat in a car with her husband
56:23and saw white people line up the street
56:24for 4 hours in the rain waving at them.
56:29That moment, which was not an
56:30accomplishment, because the car,
56:33the wardrobe, the makeup, all these were
56:36200 white people who wrote the speech,
56:38the husband gave everything. They Okay?
56:41Even the people who came to wave them,
56:43I'm sure some of them were mobilized to
56:44come and do the waving. But that thing,
56:47which is not an accomplishment, was what
56:48made her that day to declare,
56:51"In all my adult years, this is the
56:54first time I'm proud of the United
56:56States of America."
56:59The day she saw white people waiting to
57:01wave at her.
57:03The same thing.
57:06With most of the things you've seen and
57:08even the heroes we raised,
57:10one of them
57:11is Jackie Robinson. When he was playing
57:14in the in the in the Negro League and
57:17Negroes were waving at him, that didn't
57:20make him feel good. But I would take
57:22bananas being thrown at me, call monkey,
57:25prevent me from staying in white hotels,
57:27but if I can play among white people.
57:29And did he play well? He did. I said
57:32when the supervision
57:33was by foreigners,
57:35we always acted right.
57:39>> Well, I think we also have to go back to
57:41what you're saying,
57:43which is starting with the seminal issue
57:47of our children.
57:49Because you say, "Okay, well, what can
57:51we do at this point in time?"
57:53And I think it goes back to looking at
57:55our children and
57:58creating within within them a sense of
58:01self-worth.
58:02Now, that's a challenge because as you
58:05said, a significant part of our
58:08community, they don't have a sense of
58:10self-worth
58:10>> Correct. In themselves.
58:11>> Correct.
58:12>> So,
58:13it's incumbent upon those of us
58:16who are aware of what the issue is to
58:18recognize what the real problem is. The
58:20real problem is not racism.
58:22>> That's correct.
58:23>> problem is that our children don't have
58:25a sense of self-worth. They don't have a
58:28sense of saying,
58:30"I value who I am, the way I am. I don't
58:33need to be someone else. I don't need to
58:35have accolades from outside of me
58:37to know that I am a person of value. To
58:40know that I am a divine person."
58:43And that, I believe, is the crux of a
58:46lot of what we're seeing, especially now
58:48when we're talking about mental health
58:49issues in our community.
58:51That a lot of it is built around this
58:54paradigm of
58:56"I need you
58:58to
59:00feel sorry for me. I need you to
59:02acknowledge the pain and the suffering
59:05and etc. I need you to see my pain." I
59:08was talking to a young lady recently,
59:10and she was telling me the frustration
59:12of um a white woman had shared with her
59:17a picture an artist picture
59:20that was done by an African-American
59:22artist that would denoting a
59:26point of tribulation. Let's put it that
59:28way.
59:29And she said to me, "I was so triggered
59:31by that."
59:33And I asked her, "Why were you triggered
59:37by this?" She said, "Because how dare
59:39she present this to me?" I said, "Well,
59:41she was probably trying to show you that
59:44she cares about you and she she's she
59:46wants to empathize with you." And she's
59:49like, "But how dare she present this to
59:51me? I was so triggered."
59:53>> The black woman was triggered?
59:54>> Yes, the black young lady that I was
59:56speaking to. And and in the
59:58conversation, then she turned around to
1:00:00me.
1:00:01And she said, "You know, part of the
1:00:03reason why I didn't want to bring this
1:00:04up with you is because I knew you
1:00:06weren't going to empathize with me. I
1:00:08knew you weren't going to feel like what
1:00:10I'm feeling." Cuz I said, "Why is it
1:00:12necessary for me to feel what you're
1:00:14feeling?"
1:00:15>> Well, this has been a common I think
1:00:18my camera people are saying it's time
1:00:20and the union says we have only 1 hour.
1:00:23Ladies and gentlemen, Michelle, you got
1:00:25to find I know we rushed this because
1:00:27you came from very far away and I
1:00:28thought there's no way you should go
1:00:29back to Florida. But to the last point
1:00:32you're making about trigger, of course
1:00:33we're going to cut it right now. You're
1:00:35talking about even a photo, you're
1:00:37forgetting that Serena Williams went to
1:00:39a hotel wearing a fake blonde hair. The
1:00:41husband is white but a cotton in the
1:00:43hallway triggered her. And on that note,
1:00:46please subscribe, follow us and we
1:00:48always love you. ZPR Zano Project Great
1:00:50Think and this is Frank Zano. Thank you
1:00:53for watching and thank you for coming to
1:00:54the studio.
1:00:55>> Absolutely.
1:00:56>> I wish you the best of luck with your
1:00:58village initiative, right?
1:00:59>> It takes a village ministry.
1:01:01>> It takes a village ministry. Please look
1:01:03it up on the internet. It takes a
1:01:04village ministry or just look up
1:01:06Michelle Gamble, g a m b l e. She's
1:01:10doing something big.
1:01:10>> YouTube, you know, so yeah.
1:01:12>> she's doing something very massive. I
1:01:13love her speeches when I listen to her.
1:01:15Well, with that, I see you again next
1:01:17time. Thank you so much.
1:01:19>> Bye-bye.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of The DILEMMA of the VICIOUS CIRCLE: Black Race by Franck Zanu, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 10,813 words across 1,846 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.