Pandermonium: Why Nobody Is Wooing the Black Male Voter

"Pandermonium: Why Nobody Is Wooing the Black Male Voter"

Ayana: [00:00:00] So the other day, comedian Lil Duval, who does a lot of, a lot of stand up comedy, but he's very popular on social media, and every time he posts something, Uh, quote or a question or whatever he gets traction, he goes viral, he posted the following, and this is a direct quote.

He said, y'all, I love the word y'all, by the way, I use it a lot. He said, y'all pandering to everybody, but the black male vote. And of course he's talking about the presidential election this year. And his question was, why is no one trying to get black men on their side in this election? The responses to this tweet have been varied, some nonsensical, some sensical, some reasonable, but one per one person pointed out that little Duvall has probably not voted in his residence state since 2008.

And if you know what's been happening lately, Ron DeSantis has [00:01:00] kicked, some huge number of people off of the voting rolls because they have not voted recently. And this is something they do in Ohio too, where I live at, but so they were saying that he should not be concerned about a politician pandering to him because he does not vote at all.

But another person responded with the question that I was thinking about is, what would you like to see on a ticket that specifically is for a black man? What would you like to see in a political platform that is specifically for a black man? Which is not something that Lil Duval explored at all. He hasn't responded.

He hasn't said what he would be looking for, but Uh, a lot of the responses explored that and it's deep y'all it's heavy. I've got some explaining to do. Let's get into [00:02:00] it.

Hey, everyone. Hey, Allianz. Welcome back for another episode of Ayanna Explains It All, the podcast that bridges the gap between current events and human behavior. I am your host, your explainer in chief, Ayanna Paquir. That it is 8y, that is a y. A N A F A K H I R Ayanna Explains It All is the podcast that is available on multiple streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, GoodPods, Pandora.

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Open your heart. Open your mind, people. These are important issues that I talk about. It's usually, uh, based on something that's going on in my life or in the news. And lately, the news has been This friggin presidential election, ladies and gentlemen, I know I would rather talk about something else to believe me, I'd rather talk about something else.

Messages about the presidential election are things that seem to be getting through lately and things that people are interested in. So this is what we're going to talk about until we're blue in the face. Until when is it November? December. Uh, [00:06:00] November. Yeah. November 5th. Right. I feel like I'm always voting cause I vote in all the primaries and I vote in those little elections that my city has. , so yeah, I, I vote a lot. But, this issue about black men being left out of the political platforms is a serious one. I wouldn't brush it off. Absolutely not. They're not being unreasonable when they say that they feel ignored. One of the issues certainly is the fact that,, the majority of black men in the United States do not vote.

Now there are many reasons for this. It's not all because they don't want to. Some of it is because they are legally not allowed to vote. Okay. We know the problem of mass incarceration of black men in the United States and that has affected their ability to vote. it depends on what state. Everything depends on the state that you live in. But if, uh, in [00:07:00] some states, you never get your right to vote back. Never. And there are other states where you get it back after you pay all of your fees and fines, and you serve your probation or parole period.

And, uh, There are states that are like, yeah, you get out of prison. Sure. Go back to voting, but it varies. So there's, there are reasons why black men don't vote. Some of it is because they can't vote. You certainly cannot vote if you are in prison. So if you're currently incarcerated, you can't vote. I hate that every time we talk about black men, we have to talk about incarceration, but this is the reality of it because the United States at the federal and state levels have had policies directly targeting black men and putting black men in prison for low level offenses, including possession of marijuana, simple possession, simple possession.

But if you get arrested, you have to pay a bond. to get [00:08:00] out of jail until your case is, is heard. And a lot of people don't have money. And so they will sit in jail until they can pay or until, uh, someone pays for them or until the completion of their case, they might be found not guilty. The charges might be dropped or they might be going on to the big boy prison.

 But in any case, this is the reality of the United States of America for black men. And certainly it is a problem that none of the candidates are speaking directly to. What black men feel are black men's issues, but I'm going to explain to you why the things that these candidates are exploring are actually black men's issues.

And this is the problem. Another problem we have is that people don't see themselves in the political discussions because they don't understand how policy relates to their everyday life. [00:09:00] They don't understand how candidates put forth policies that affect their everyday lives. A lot of us think all I want to hear about is money.

Just give me money. Tell me how you, how you're going to give me money. Tell me where I can go and get this money. Uh, this past weekend, there was some kind of like chase bank check scam that was running around the social medias and people were thinking, okay, I can write a check and I can go deposit it and then I can immediately withdraw the money.

And before the check clears and I'll have all of this money and everybody's like on top of this and they all want to do this because people, you know, they want money and who I, I get the feeling that if some candidate went out and said, I'm going to give everyone 20, 000, that person would get 100 percent of the votes in the [00:10:00] United States, people really want money.

People don't want to work. I know. I mean, I have my days. I enjoy working, but people don't want to work. They, they, they don't want to have to labor. They don't want to have to work long hours. They don't want to have to work two and three jobs to make a living. They don't want to work minimum wage. They don't want to work, uh, for other people.

They want to work for themselves, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So sometimes the focus Focus of voters is on who's going to put money in my pockets. And I got to tell you guys, if you've been paying attention, um, none of these people are putting money in your pockets. If you're a middle class worker, middle class American like myself, uh, my taxes have always been high, always.

They, uh, went up recently thanks to the GOP and Trump [00:11:00] tax plan. My taxes went up. Um, I have two kids. I'm the single mom of two kids. Having kids helps. Yes, it does. It doesn't help enough and certainly having to raise and support two children who play sports, by the way, which means they eat a lot of food.

A lot of my money goes towards the kids and their, their needs, but taxes are always going to be. Taxes, taxes, taxes. If you can, if there's a candidate, if there's a candidate who says I'm going to lower your taxes now that. That is something that you, that should perk up your ears, perk up your ears. But this is not perk up people's ears.

People want to hear I want money in my pockets, but how can you get money in your pockets without somebody either lowering taxes or just giving you money? And I'm here to tell you the days of the [00:12:00] stimulus are over. Stop looking for it. You're not getting a stimulus check, nothing. We've said this so many times in discussions is that.

The stimulus checks came because millions of people were out of work during the pandemic, millions of people, and they needed money and Congress wanted them to have money. The president at the time, who was Donald Trump, did not want you all to have money. He didn't care. He didn't care. He had to be pressed.

He had to be pushed to give you all to sign the bill into law, to sign the bill into law that gave Americans stimulus checks. He had to be pushed to do it. One of the concerns was, well, how are we going to pay for it? How are we going to pay for it?

But another concern was how much is enough? I mean, 1, 200, 3, 600, 1, 800. It, it, it's never enough. It's never going to be [00:13:00] enough money, right? Especially if you are out of work. There is not, um, there's not an amount that is going to be sufficient for you. But a lot of other things happened. Like people were getting rent abatements and they were getting, um, eviction abatements and all these different, uh, programs and things were available to help people out.

They were getting extra snap benefits and Medicaid was being expanded because people were getting COVID and people were dying and et cetera, et cetera. And so these are, I, once again, Issues that affect black men, but black men don't see themselves in these social policy arenas.

They don't understand how Medicaid expansion affects them. They don't understand how tax cuts affect them. They don't understand how, um, how inflation and job creation affects them, which is ridiculous. It's ridiculous, but you have to show people how a particular [00:14:00] policy affects their day to day lives. Even a court ruling. A court ruling at, say, for instance, at the state Supreme Court level that affects people's day to day lives, and you have to show them how it does that. Otherwise, they're not going to understand the importance of voting in a certain election like this year in Ohio, we are electing three new Supreme Court justices.

Our justices are elected. They're not appointed. All of the judges in the state of Ohio are elected. They're not appointed. And people don't understand how the election of these judges affects their day to day lives. But then, when I look at the responses to Lil Duvall's tweet, and I see most of the responses are, uh, family court reform, child support, alimony, child support was a pretty popular one, right?

And I'm thinking, well, those are state issues. Those are state issues. Not only that judges, your local judges are the ones who are making the decisions [00:15:00] about how much child support you're going to pay, how much alimony you're going to pay, what the custody arrangements will be for you and your, your, uh, your significant, your ex significant other for your child.

So why are you not pressing these judges? And your state representatives and your state governor about these issues, because all you're thinking is, well, the president's supposed to fix these things, the president can fix this. And this is, this goes back to basic lack of understanding of American politics that many U.

1. citizens have. You don't understand who controls what, who's in charge of what, what are the different branches of government. Who can I call when I have a problem? I, if I buy a, uh, uh, if I'm getting taken advantage of by a business, who do I appeal to? If I have a case that didn't go my way, what do I do?

You not knowing these things, you not knowing these things. Is why you feel defeated because if you're thinking, [00:16:00] oh, it's the president who's going to fix it and the president doesn't fix it and that, and then you get upset, you're thinking, oh, I'm not going to vote again, but really it's, it's all of these other people.

It's a lot of these other people at other levels. Who you should be focusing on and the fights you should be having are with your local legislature, your city council, your mayor, your local executive level, your judicial system, your local courts, your state courts, your appeals courts, uh, you know, your general assembly, your governor.

But one thing that I noticed in my state was that during the primary elections this year, I think it was in March. Less, okay, take half of the voters and then take half of that. That's the number of people who showed up to vote statewide in the primaries.

I [00:17:00] mean, that's, that's insane. We are electing a senator. We are electing three new Supreme Court justices and in my county we're electing new county justices, county judges rather. We're also electing, I think there's a state representative race, but there's also, uh, an important issue on the ballot and. I mean, less than half, less than half of all voters statewide showed up to vote in the primaries.

We're choosing a president too, of course, but people are complaining about all of these things that are happening at the local level that the president is not responsible for, but they're also not showing up to vote in the elections where we're choosing the people who are going to, who affect these local issues.

And it's maddening to me. It's maddening to me. Every time I try to have these discussions online [00:18:00] and I tell people, well, these are local issues. These are local issues. What are you doing at the local level? And they just give up. People don't understand local level politics, which is ridiculous because the mayors and the city council are the easiest people, the easiest people to get ahold of.

In my city hall, you walk right into, you walk into the city hall, you can talk to somebody right away. You got to complain about something. You talk to somebody right away. You want to talk to the school board. School boards have meetings. You can go and talk at a school board meeting. You can talk at a city council meeting.

Can you do that with the president of the United States? No. Can you do that at the, at the Senate or the Congress of the, the, the federal government? No. You can't just go in and start talking to people and appealing to them and telling them what's wrong on your street. But you can do that at the local level.

So why are people not doing it? Especially black men. Why are you all not appealing to the people [00:19:00] at the local level to help you in your communities? The problems you are seeing? I would love, I would love to know. I would love to know. A lot of people feel powerless. I know is one reason people feel powerless.

They feel like they're not going to be listened to. But if you haven't tried, how do you even know that you won't be listened to? I mean, a lot of people get shit done at the local level. They have petitions, they go to these city hall meetings and, and I've seen them. I've seen these city council meetings.

I've seen several of them online. People go to these meetings and they've got stacks of papers and they get to two, three minutes to talk. And, And they're listened to and sometimes these things get contentious, but there are real problems, real issues going on in communities across the United States that are not being addressed because the citizens are not pressing their local governments.

They're taking all of [00:20:00] their fights to the president. It baffles me.

The president, they, the president signs the laws. The president is the one who enforces the law, enforces, he's at the enforce, he or she is at the enforcement level, the executive branch, Congress, the house and the Senate are at the legislative branch. They make the laws and then the Supreme court and the federal appeals courts and all that good stuff.

They're at the judicial level, the judicial branch, they interpret the law. So you have a bill, right? Came from Congress, the house and the Senate. They, they ironed out their differences. They negotiated, they voted on it, et cetera, et cetera.

They send it to the president. The president signs it into law. The law is implemented throughout the United States. It's implemented throughout the United States. And because there are 50 different States, they're going to be At least [00:21:00] 50 different interpretations of this, right? And so people are going to sue.

They're going to sue because they don't like this law, or they're going to sue because they think they should be covered by the law, and they are not covered by the law. They think it should be expanded

but this happens at the state level as well. You have a state law that you feel should not be a law. You sue, this is how we change laws, but how we get laws is first with a bill. It goes back to that old schoolhouse rock.

I'm just a bill on Capitol Hill, blah, blah, blah. That's how things start. But the bills come because people have discussed with their representatives. issues affecting them in their cities and towns in their counties. These issues are brought to the awareness of your state representatives. And [00:22:00] so the state representatives are like, yeah, you know what?

I think that we need a statewide protection of reproductive rights. Now in my state, The way, um, you would get something like that is through an amendment to the Constitution. And the way we amend constitutions can either be from the citizens or from the General Assembly. And that is how we got reproductive rights is because the citizens got the issue on the ballot and an overwhelming majority of Ohioans voted for yes.

protect reproductive rights with the state constitution. So now it's a constitutional amendment. It doesn't mean that it won't be challenged. People are suing. Yes, people are suing. They're still suing. They're still unhappy, but this is how these things go. This is how these fights go.

 [00:23:00] I expected the responses to be thoughtful and serious for this little Duvall tweet, getting back to that.

But some were, I don't know if they were joking. Maybe they were serious,

but one was, black men should receive a tax break for marrying an immigrant or black men should be exempt from paying alimony. One response I saw listed good policies like reparations for descendants of slaves, economic programs for black male entrepreneurs, rehabilitation centered criminal justice policies.

Funding for trades, STEM, and vocational programs in high schools and affordable housing. Those are all good things. A proper sensical response. But the people who responded with child support, [00:24:00] I mean, that was a popular response. Eliminating or changing child support laws. Now, I don't know where y'all think child support laws come from.

The federal government has nothing to do with that. The federal government has nothing to do with that. Nothing, nothing. It is a state issue. Every state has different guidelines. Every county has different judges. Every county has a different family court judge who interprets their different state laws differently.

So imagine you have a state and you live in your county and you've got three or four different family court judges. Each one of those judges is going to interpret the law differently. And it might be in your favor or it might not be in your favor, but what can you do after that? You can appeal that. You know, people know that they can appeal [00:25:00] family court rulings.

I feel like people don't know this because I don't see it a lot. I see a lot of people who get these rulings and they're like, well, damn, I guess this is what it is. No, appeal it. You don't like it. Appeal it. You can appeal these things all the way to the state Supreme court. Hell, you can appeal these things to the U S Supreme court.

You know, just like wrongful convictions. You can appeal these all the way to the Supreme court, the U S Supreme court. But I feel like people feel as if they, they are stuck with this. People feel powerless. I, I, I, and I can only imagine where that is from. I can, I can only guess where that is from, but I know that systemic racism plays a role.

It makes people feel as if they have limited choices, especially black men. Black men feel as if they have limited choices and that is not the case, honey. No, no, no, no. You have all the choices that white people have. [00:26:00] You have all the options that white people have. Why do you feel powerless? Because someone told you you were powerless.

Somebody told you you were not worth or worthy. of these opportunities. Somebody took the educational opportunities away from you that would have empowered you to understand what your rights are. And you got to get that back. You got to get that back. You have to fight for that, but mostly, okay, I'm going to getting back to the child support issue.

Mostly child support is obviously for the benefit of the child. Okay, but it is also used by the state to offset the cost of Medicaid or chip. If you have children who are on public assistance and you are ordered to pay child support or have insurance coverage, the state [00:27:00] uses child support enforcement to recoup some of that money.

For instance, in Ohio, the law requires that all child support orders include both a child support payment amount when private health insurance is being provided and another amount for when health insurance is not provided. Each order must also include a cash medical support obligation. So some of the money you're paying is for health insurance for your children.

How can you be against that? I don't know how you could be against that. But maybe it's because you don't understand that this money is going towards health insurance for your children. Maybe you don't give a fuck. Maybe you don't care if your children have health insurance. I have seen that case too.

You got kids. Maybe you didn't want them. So you don't care if they have health insurance. That's your, that's your prerogative. It's it sucks. It's a very sucky [00:28:00] opinion to have, but Hey, that's your, that's your cross to bear, honey, but States will get their money back from you one way or another one way or another.

So some of the amount that you're seeing is going towards the state to offset that cost, but in the United States, most of the black babies born recently. Most of the black children born in the United States are born to mothers who receive Medicaid coverage, who also use the coverage to care for their children's medical needs once the children are born.

So you're paying for the health insurance of your children. So no matter how you feel about the amount you are required to pay, you are responsible for the welfare of your children. This is what you're paying for. But a lot of people feel that it is. Unfair that they have to pay a certain amount. You're probably thinking that you're just being [00:29:00] robbed, that these people are going in your pockets and they're taking all your money and the mother's spending the money on whatever she's spending it on. And it's not for your kids.

Your kids are not being provided for. But if your children are receiving health insurance and you're being asked to pay for that insurance through offsetting costs, then your children are being taken care of. The, the other money. Is, I mean, it's really none of your business what the money is going to your order to pay it, pay it.

It's just like if you're, you're sued in a court by a corporation, by a company and they get 500 out of you, what do you care what they do with that money? They won. They won the lawsuit. They could take the money cash out, tear it up, throw it into the air or flush it down the toilet. So what the point is there's a court order, your order to pay, you pay it or fight it, fight it.

If you think it's unfair, fight it. [00:30:00] You have that option. But even though this is a black man's issue, black men are not voting in the local elections for the state representatives, the judges, the governors who pass these laws, who interpret and enforce these laws. Black men have the lowest voter turnout of any group in the US eligible to vote in elections.

And when primary elections occur, for instance, in my region, Northeast Ohio, typically less than half of all registered voters participate in these elections. And as I said before, we're electing three. New Supreme court justices. These people are going to be the ones who are interpreting the family court laws that are affecting your day to day, day to day lives.

Are you going to show up to vote for them or to vote against the ones who are already there, are you? You didn't show up for the primaries. Are you going to show [00:31:00] up for the general election? Since child support is such an important issue for black men, child support and alimony custody. Are you going to show up to vote in the elections that choose the judges who make these decisions? Who interpret these laws.

Are you going to show up to vote in the elections where the state representatives are chosen, who introduced these bills that become laws? Are you?

Because here it is people saying, Oh, they're not pandering to the black man's vote because you're not showing up to vote in these elections. And I'll, I'll just share my personal experience with black men and voting black men don't vote. I have in my life, in my life had to convince, convince black men to go to the polls to vote.

There was a man who was, who I was friends with. He hadn't voted in years, [00:32:00] years, and he was over 50 years old. And I had to convince him to vote in the last presidential election in 2020. I remember when Obama was running and I was talking to this guy, very nice guy. But he didn't vote either, and I had to convince him to vote in the election.

I had to convince him to vote. They only voted because I, I feel like I bullied them into voting. But these people are only voting because somebody explained it to them, broke it down to them. Some men only vote because, you know, their significant other, their wives, their moms, walks them to the polls. But I'm tired of doing this shit, man.

I'm tired of it. I'm tired. I'm tired. I don't want to beg another man to vote. I don't want to beg another black man to vote. Why don't you all see? That your vote is important, that these issues are affecting you, [00:33:00] these state city races, these county races, they're affecting you. They are, they affect your day to day lives.

I don't know how, how much more plainly to make this. I don't know how much more plainly to make this. I could draw a line, I could have a board and I could draw a line from the law. To how it affects your communities. Would you understand it? Then you're being affected. You are being affected, but you're not voting in the elections to elect the people to choose the issues.

Yes or no for the issues and the people who are affecting your day to day lives. And then you're saying, well, people are not pandering to me. And child support is one of my main concerns. Okay, what are you doing about it? What are you doing about it? If there was a candidate who ran on the platform of I'm going to change child support law, they would lose.

You want to know why? [00:34:00] Because women vote more than men. Women don't want to see changes. As long as our children are taken care of, we are fine.

So people don't run on that platform. People don't run on that issue saying that I'm going to reform, you know, people who run on being, I'm going to be tougher on criminals. Those people always win because that's what the majority in society want to see. They don't care about fairness. Uh, the judicial in the judiciary, they don't care about fairness in the judiciary.

Most people don't care about fairness in the judiciary. They, they just wanna hear that you're tough on crime. You know, your county sheriff in my, again, in my county, the county sheriff is elected. They wanna hear that the county sheriff is tough on crime. They don't wanna hear about fairness. They don't want to hear about, uh, community policing, fair policing.

They want to hear you're [00:35:00] tough on crime.

You will hear from, black men that they don't vote because they feel the system is rigged and that their vote doesn't matter.

And voting requirements have been changed. They're changed in every state all of the time. mostly to try to keep people from voting. That's how it's rigged. It's rigged to keep you from voting because at least for the Republican Party they see more people voting as bad for them.

 But I tell you what, if you don't fight it, if you don't fight these unfair voting restrictions, then they are going to be law and they are going to affect your day to day life. And the reason why a lot of these voting requirements are changing in states like Alabama and even Idaho. Is because they see that there is a certain sector of society that is not voting and that they will not care anyway if they make these slight [00:36:00] changes that always mostly affect marginalized groups. You're not going to care, you're not voting anyway, you have to sue to get changes made to these laws. You have to sue. You have to turn to your judicial branch to sue. These things are affecting your day to day lives. They're looking you right in your face and saying that you don't matter. They're focusing on you, but not in a way that you think they're not trying to win your vote. They're trying to keep you from voting. And I don't know about you, but for me, that would make me want to fight like hell that would make me want to fight.

Oh, you don't want me to vote. Like back in the, in the twenties and the thirties and the forties and the fifties and the sixties. Oh, you don't want me to vote. I want to vote. I'm going to vote. We have to fight, but you have to fight back. You have to fight. I don't know. I can't, I cannot explain. I cannot impress this upon you any [00:37:00] more than I am right now.

Using the highest tone. I can't go higher in my voice. You have to fight back. You have to fight back. If you see something that is unfair, you have to fight back. You see a law that is unfair. Sue, you have to sue to change it. You have to sue to change it. That is how this system works. Yeah, it takes a while.

Who cares? You have to fight back. The other side does it. The other side, when they see a law that favors black people, I talked about this a couple of episodes ago when they see a law that favors That's grant that when they see programs that are granting money to non whites, they think it's unfair. What did they do?

They sued in federal court. And a lot of these programs have been struck down. But that's the only way you're going to get changes [00:38:00] around here. You can't just sit on the internet and complain. You actually have to do something. You have to do something about what you are seeing is wrong or why you feel ignored.

You actually have to do something. You can't just be loud on the internet. You actually have to take this to the streets. You know, like Michael McDonald taking it to the street. You have to do this.

 And while I was researching this topic, I came across, uh, the eight it's called the 18 point black male political agenda and it's by T Hassan Johnson, PhD and the 38, 000 plus members of the Brotherhood of the Onyx report.

That's the full title. I don't know why, now listen, this 18 [00:39:00] point black male political agenda. I don't know if these things were in order of importance. It didn't say if these things were in order of importance, but the very first thing they listed number one on the list of pressing societal and economic needs that political candidates must address for black men.

 Is family court reform, family court reform. But the first bullet point under family court reform is child support,

Ayana: and this is from 2020, by the way, but it's been updated. I think the last update was August, 2024. So it's current, again, with the child support, Lord have mercy, please free me from this.

Me being a child support recipient myself, I am not unaware of the challenges. I'm very aware [00:40:00] of the challenges for men and women. I've, I could tell you guys stories Anyway, this is the number one issue for the black male political agenda and not even in the top two or five is health.

Health is number eight. Health is number eight on the list. And again, I don't know if these are in order of importance. But it just seems strange to me that health is not number one considering that the number one killer of black men in the United States of America is heart disease. Heart disease is killing you faster than a child support order ever could.

Your concern is with child support and alimony and 50 50 custody. Meanwhile, you're not even making it out of your forties because you're [00:41:00] dying of a heart attack. And this, uh, over the weekend, um, a famous rapper named, uh, Fat Man Scoop passed away. He collapsed on stage while performing and he passed away.

And I'm seeing a lot of Gen X cause I'm Gen X. I'm seeing a lot of Gen Xers not make it out of their 40s or their 50s. And it's scary. A lot of black men are dying in their 50s and 40s from cardiovascular disease, heart disease. And a lot of these diseases are controllable and preventable, right? I'm talking about heart failure, cardiomyopathy, heart attack, arrhythmia, uh, atherosclerosis, hypertension, stroke.

A lot of these things are preventable illnesses and, and black men are dying from these things. It's an epidemic, but you're concerned with child support and alimony and custody. [00:42:00] Your concern is with someone else. Getting something more than what you have versus your own body, your own health. Who cares if you get 50, 50 custody, if you're dead, doesn't matter if you're dead, man dies at 45, doesn't give a fuck about 50, 50 custody.

Right? And if you die, no more child support, I guess. So I guess that's a relief, but health should be number one. Health should be a number one agenda item. It should be your main focus is you being healthy for yourself and your kids. But mostly for yourself, why are you all not taking this seriously? Why are you all not insisting in, health equity outcomes that favor your community versus disfavor versus put you at a disadvantage because that is what you're looking at right [00:43:00] now.

 You're more likely to be discriminated against. In the healthcare field, your pain complaints are being ignored. Black people's pain and discomfort is not taken seriously. Our complaints are not taken seriously. We're living in areas where there is more than likely poisoned, dirty water, poisoned, dirty air that's affecting our health. You have asthma. And you live in a metropolitan city. How many asthma exacerbations are you going to have because your air is not clean a lot? Your health outcomes, your health outcomes put you at a disadvantage because you were black

Ayana: health should be number one on this list. Especially now that COVID has ran through. The United States, you know, COVID can [00:44:00] cause COVID is an infection, right? Infections can cause what is called non ischemic heart disease.

That's any disease that causes decreased heart functioning. COVID is one of those. Influenza, the flu is another. You could get a gum infection, an infection in your gums that could cause decreased heart functioning, and you could die.

Why is health not your main concern? Your main concern is child support and reparations. When your children are living in neighborhoods with poison air and poison water that are food insecure with poor educational opportunities. While the women who birth your children are more likely to die while pregnant and during childbirth than any other race of women.

While you're more likely to die of a preventable illness, your main concern is money and who is in your pockets. Lord, have mercy. [00:45:00] You're not even concerned about advancing science or health equity to improve health outcomes for black men and children. Chances are if you are, if you are black and living in the U S you are living in an area that is underserved for healthcare needs and food needs.

Yes, you are more likely to live in a food desert, especially if you live in a metropolitan city. For instance, Cleveland, Ohio is a food desert. That is, there are no grocery stores within 15, within a 15 minute walk or drive.

Food desert is a place where there are no shopping centers offering fresh food, meats, poultry. And why is that? Corporations do not want to invest in cities where black people live because they see these cities as places where people are more apt to using public assistance. And they don't want to waste [00:46:00] their time building stores where they're only going to get customers specific times of the month at the beginning or the middle of the month.

They want consistent customers every day. It's not just about security.

They want people who are going to spend money every day versus coming in and spending hundreds of dollars on the first of the month. So yeah, you're being discriminated against. That's why your city is a food desert. That's why you go to, um, uh, Family Dollar and Dollar General and you get prepackaged Meals and get a pack of bologna and some cheese and a pop.

That's why you will see a family dollar or a dollar general instead of seeing an actual supermarket. Because these supermarket chains don't want to invest where they are not going to see consistent customers. In their stores every day, they're not going to see your neighborhood as [00:47:00] worthy of it. I grew up in one of these neighborhoods.

If you want to go to a grocery store, you're going to spend some time driving. You're going to spend some time on the bus, definitely. To get to a grocery store and then it may not even be a grocery store that fits all of your needs.

Maybe you need a pharmacy too. Maybe it doesn't have fresh produce. So if you want to go to a store, you're going to have to spend some time driving there.

And it is a damn shame. It is a damn shame. So why is food insecurity, not a black man's issue? Why is foods? Insecurity, not a black man's issue that I'm seeing black men discussing that I'm seeing black men talk about on their, uh, 18 point bullet point, whatever the hell political agendas you're more likely to live in a food desert. Why is this not a [00:48:00] point of discussion for you?

Elite us colleges. Have seen black enrollment drop after affirmative action was struck down by the U. S. Supreme Court.

Why is this not an issue that you're exploring? Why is this not an issue you're concerned with higher education for black people? Why are you not concerned with funding for college preparatory or vocational education programs? Why are you not concerned about your state? Withdrawing funding from public education and giving it to private schools and charter schools or not investing in pre k programs or affordable child care. And what's even, even worse on this, this 18 point political agenda, voter disenfranchisement is number 12, number 12. That should be in the top five, honey. You're not getting shit done if you [00:49:00] can't vote. You're not getting a motherfucking thing accomplished. If you cannot vote, why is this number 12? Gerrymandering is so severe in the U S. And in a number of states, the GOP has worked hard. I mentioned this before. They have worked hard to disenfranchise many black voters as possible and prevent black people who are formerly incarcerated from voting.

The fact that this is number 12 on the list is shameful. The fact that this is not discussed more among circles of black men is shameful. They do not want you to vote and you are allowing it to happen.

In the November 2024 general election, voters in most states will face new restrictions on voting. Most notably Alabama and Idaho. Alabama and Idaho passed laws that broadly [00:50:00] criminalize certain forms of assistance with absentee voting. Alabama's new law imposes criminal penalties on anyone who submits another voters mail ballot application.

So this is just you mailing the ballot for them, or you turning the ballot into the board of elections for them. Face criminal penalties. It also makes it a crime to distribute a pre filled absentee ballot application or to receive or provide payment or gift for distributing, collecting, or submitting a mail ballot application.

Imagine, imagine. Imagine, and they could impose criminal penalties for providing postage stamps or gas money to a neighbor who distributes absentee ballot applications. They don't want you to help people to vote. And if you help, you shouldn't get paid. But mostly, don't help anybody vote. If they can't do this themselves, then they shouldn't be able to vote. [00:51:00] It blows my mind that this is a law. But voting rights advocates have challenged the Alabama law in court. But as for now, this is the law that is going to be imposed for the 2024 November, 2024 general election. And just for reference in 2022, 64 percent of Alabama registered voters identified as black American, and just 47 percent of those people voted.

Indiana, Tennessee, Arizona, West Virginia, Georgia, they all have restricted voting laws or are debating. Changing the laws to make them more restrictive.

A proposal in Georgia has passed both chambers of the legislature and if passed into law would make it easier for private citizens to challenge someone's eligibility to vote. Even based [00:52:00] on unreliable data.

Let's talk about reparations since this is high on the list of things you all want to see reparations. I hear reparations every freaking election cycle in it. Listen, this is another one of those things that you're not going to get unless you have overwhelming social support and overwhelming.

Legislative support. And right now we do not have either of those. We don't have them. And every time we talk about reparations for descendants of slaves, people mention that [00:53:00] the descendants and those who were interred during World War II, the Japanese people who were in internment camps and World War II received reparations.

Let me tell you something. They didn't get that shit right away. It took decades. It took decades, but they benefited from the momentum of the U S and their allies trying to redress the wrongs that were committed during world war two. The U S government felt very guilty about what had happened to the Japanese.

And it took decades, but they had overwhelming support. Legislative support, support from our allies, support from the public, coming out of slavery. Did we have that same support? Did our ancestors have that same support? Hell no, hell no, hell no. [00:54:00] So we're trying to play catch up. We're trying to play catch up to get reparations.

But the momentum coming out of slavery, it wasn't for us. It wasn't for the descendants of slaves. It wasn't for slaves. It wasn't for freed people. No, white people were trying to figure out a way to, re enslave blacks, number one, and to keep them out of white spaces. They use black codes. They use Jim Crow laws.

They made sundown towns, they put black people in prison, and they had sharecropping. Share fucking cropping, which was just another form of slavery. Tied you to the land for the rest of your life.

They weren't trying to give us anything. They didn't want us to have opportunities. They were passing laws to make sure we had fewer opportunities.

So [00:55:00] we're playing catch up when it comes to reparations. Yes, there are bills being passed in the house and the Senate to form a committee to study reparations, how that, how reparations could happen. But the bill never gets passed. The bill never gets passed. It has been introduced, I think, since 1989. It has been introduced every year since 1989 and it never gets passed into law.

Why do you think that is? Why do you think that is? White people don't want us to have reparations. They don't fucking want us to have it. Not only that, we cannot even get enough black people on board for reparations.

And then there are people who say, well, maybe reparations is the friends we've made along the way. When I say reparations, I mean creating opportunities for black people in black neighborhoods. That's their idea of reparations. Now they should want to do that anyway. They should do that [00:56:00] anyway. Holy shit. They should do that anyway. Don't play in our faces. Don't tell us reparations are the, uh, word reparations are the opportunities we're going to create for black people in black neighborhoods.

Okay, great. They should already do that. You should already be doing that. Pre K should not be reparations for black Americans. That's not reparations. That's something you should do anyway, creating educational programs, afterschool programs and such that benefit black kids. That's not reparations. That's something you should be doing anyway.

 I am the direct descendant of American slaves on my mother's side and my father's side. Got a little bit of slave owner thrown in there too.

Would I love to see reparations? Sure. Now since we're talking about reparations that don't look like reparations, you could lower my mortgage [00:57:00] payment.

But most of all, we need to gain broad political support for reparations for the descendants of slaves. And that involves lobbying lawmakers, building coalitions, and mobilizing public opinion in favor of reparations. This is going to require strong grassroots movements. That would be essential to keeping the issue at the forefront of the public discussions, the public discourse.

We have to push for concrete actions. Again, we have to do something other than sit on the internet and whine about reparations. Why can't they give us reparations? Honey, they can't give you anything. They can't give you, they can't just give you things. They didn't just give the Japanese reparations for World War II.

No, they didn't. They didn't just give it to them. It was decades, decades of building coalitions, decades of getting international [00:58:00] support, decades of getting legislative support, decades of getting people's public, the public's opinion to be in favor of it.

They haven't even studied who are all the descendants of slaves living in the U. S. That alone would probably take 10 years. They can't just sign a check and then you have to consider the legal challenges that are going to happen just because it's law doesn't mean it's not going to be challenged.

So reparations, sure. What are you doing about it? What are you doing about it? And then here it is every four years, celebrities and others. Coming out of the woodwork like little Duvall coming out of the woodwork. What are you doing for black people? What are these candidates doing for black people?

What's in it for me? If you cannot see yourself in these legislative and social policy [00:59:00] issues and these legislative decisions, you do not see yourself in these things. Why are you here? Why are you here? For you to say, your vote doesn't matter. That you don't see yourself in these political fights, it's ridiculous, ridiculous, especially for people like, Ice Cube is really good at this Ice Cube, the former gangster rapper turned, uh, gangster actor turned, uh, daddy jokes, actor, director. Now I think he runs a, a D three basketball league.

How he doesn't see them himself in these political discussions when he's literally He's paying taxes. He's wealthy and he's paying taxes. Probably has a mortgage. Maybe he doesn't cause he got a [01:00:00] lot of money, but he has people who work for him who are paying taxes. He has people who are investing in his projects who probably also invest in political candidates who are going to favor issues that favor them having more money and more access to opportunities.

How you do not see yourself in these political discussions is beyond me. You're being intellectually dishonest. You're being daft. You're being purposely daft, willfully ignorant, and it's exhausting.

You're here, you're affected, but you don't want to be affected. You don't want to be in these discussions. It's not that you don't see yourself. It's that you don't want to be in these discussions because these discussions mean that you have to be lumped in with everyone else and you see yourself as someone who is special, who should not be lumped in with all the other people.

You want to be catered to. You want somebody to beg you. [01:01:00] You want somebody to favor you. That's some spoiled, candy ass bullshit that has resulted in you being lazy. That has resulted in you not fighting one damn fight, except the one between your brain and your mouth.

And I tell you what, even if somebody gave you a big bucket of money, how would that help you? It would help you in the short term to buy things, but you can't eat money.

You can use money to buy food, but if there's no grocery store in your neighborhood, then maybe you could door dash some Popeye's or something. And money can buy you a house in a better neighborhood, but you'd need a hefty down payment and a decent job to help you pay the mortgage and taxes and insurance.

And then consider whether the place you're living in would actually want to have you there. Not that it matters, but life is a lot easier when your neighbors don't despise you because you're black. [01:02:00] And of course you can use money to go to college, but you'd have to be admitted first. And well, that's a problem for black people.

Now that affirmative action and admissions has been struck down, a lot of these higher education institutions are admitting, admitting fewer blacks and more wealthy whites.

Blacks who are on the same level, who are on the same level of achievement as these wealthy whites are being denied opportunities. You may or may not get into college, but you'll certainly need every penny of the money you have to pay for it. Money can pay your utility bills, but if your state discriminates against your city because it's full of black people, Jackson, Mississippi, chances are your water is not clean and you suffer rolling blackouts. and other environmental damage that makes even breathing where you live a challenge. Money can help, yeah, but it [01:03:00] cannot fix what's keeping you from advancing. economically. And if you're not voting or don't know why you should vote or why it's important, or what is even important to you, then money does you no good.

And I know it sounds silly, but it's true. Every level of government is important. Every election is important, but the communities are important as well. Community engagement and involvement in implementing and making use of the benefits we work hard for at the ballot box is important. What do your communities look like?

If you're looking for something to care about, what do your communities look like? What does your community look like where you live? If you're confused about how you fit into the political discourse, start with your community. Look at the roads, the schools, smell the air, look at the waterways, the city government, the shops, the parks. These things where you [01:04:00] live is the first sign that something is going well or going wrong.

Then look at your county, the cities around you, your state. How is your state government functioning? How has the Supreme Court been interpreting laws that govern your day to day needs?

And the prevailing attitude of voting doesn't matter is the force that the GOP uses to propel legislation into law that disenfranchises poor and other marginalized groups such as black men. You're being fed a load of crap and your rights are being affected because of your inaction. What you don't use, you will lose.

And I hate to have to break this to you, but the reason you feel ignored is because you're being left behind from your lack of civic participation. Yes, you are. They don't see you, so they don't care [01:05:00] about you. They don't see you out there, so they don't care about you. By and large, black men are not voting in the United States, and therefore your needs are not being met.

People forget about you until you're getting your ass beat or shot by a police officer in a video online. It's not funny. It's in fact very sad. You all have allowed your power to be deflated, whether through racism or otherwise, you've given up your power, you've relinquished your thrones, you want to be taken seriously, you have to put yourselves out there again, you have to make yourselves a force again, the third leading cause of death of black men in the U. S. is, homicide or as they call it, accidental injury, because I guess you didn't [01:06:00] intend to be murdered.

And law enforcement is One of the sources of homicide of black men in the U. S. One of the popular sources and there's a particular candidate who's saying that he wants to give immunity to cops. For killing you. That is a black man's issue. That right there puts the, puts the fight squarely in your lap.

What are you doing about it?

All of these fights are important. All of these things are important. If you do not see yourself in these fights, it's because you're not paying attention or because you're not being honest with yourself about what your day to day issues really are. You know that money is not enough. Money is not enough.

It will never be enough. If you live where you cannot even eat because there are no grocery stores, [01:07:00] your kids have to go to a school in a different fucking city because the educational opportunities in your neighborhood are poor. There are no afterschool programs. You know, money is not enough.

Money is not enough. If they keep raising your, your taxes. Your property taxes, your income taxes, they're being, there are people who are, there are people who are being priced out of their homes in Florida because the insurance premiums are too high because their property taxes have doubled and tripled, but mostly the insurance premiums.

are wiping them out. Look at the federal government agencies that you use regularly without even knowing that you're using them. The post office TSA at the airport. [01:08:00] That's the department of Homeland security. When you ride a train, a subway, a bus, that's the department of transportation. When you're on the highway, that's the department of transportation.

When you want a visa or passport. That's the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When there's a natural disaster, who do they bring in to clean things up? The National Guard or FEMA. Maybe you're a veteran. Maybe you're in the military. Maybe your kids attend public school or they have a disability. Maybe you work for a company or an entity that has a retirement plan that is held by the state you live in. How do you think these things are sustained? They're not self sustaining. America [01:09:00] runs on people. America runs on people, people, voting.

America runs on people. Legislation, legislators, votes, voters, voting, constitution, state, and federal. This is what we run on. And the mayors and the city council, the governor, the state reps, the federal reps, the president, the judges, these people work for us. These people work for us and our vote is a referendum on the job that they are doing for us in our communities.

And with these voting purges that are happening, these voting restrictions that are happening, Even though you have the right to vote, you see that your right to vote is not even guaranteed because people will take it from you without a second thought. you either use it. Or you lose it.

 And this has been Ayanna Explains It All brought to you [01:10:00] by Facts, Figures, and Enlightenment. Take care.