Greetings, greetings. Welcome to another episode of Truth to Power. I'm your host, Tyrus McKnight, aka The Truth. Tonight I want to talk about voting within agenda.
Now, as many of you know, Tuesday is Election Day. People around the country are voting for candidates that they believe in. People are voting for certain laws to be passed as well. Now, many of you who listen to me may or may not know, that I was raised by my grandmother.
She was born in 1913 in the rural South of Louisiana, so she experienced racism on a whole other level. My grandmother always plays an emphasis in the importance of voting. Now, I would like to allow my grandmother, Dilly. She has the wrong concept.
Instead of placing emphasis on voting, she and her friends should have been voting with the common agenda, based on economic and political empowerment for black people. I think as black people, we need to place more focus on group economics and group politics. Now, once again, if you listen to my show, you know, my family definitions. So everything is clear and defined.
Group economics is when a race comes together in a community and decides to spend money amongst each other, rather than with another group. Now, there's nothing wrong with that. The only problem is black people are the only race that don't practice group economics. Most races do.
Most people come in the black communities and although they have stores set up in black communities, they won't hire anybody but their own and they won't spend money with anybody but their own. But they will do business with black people, which is not the wrong with that but I just think we need to implement that and to our own communities. Also group politics. Group politics is an interest group that are formerly organized on a basis of one or more shared concerns and they attempt to influence public policy in its favor.
Politics and interests are inseparable. And I say that to say this, when we go out to vote, we don't come with an agenda. We don't come with the quote unquote bag to finance some of these politicians so they can work in our interests and I think that we should start doing it because of the other groups do that and you see how powerful they are. You know, not only that, I think we need to start having black media outlets.
There's a need for black media outlets to champion our politicians when we decide who we want to run for office that could speak to our concerns. Now, and another thing is we need to make our vote count. We have to demand that our needs get met while our politicians are in office. The person that we decide to make the king, as they say, is better to be the king, maker than to be the king.
Now, I don't need to tell most of you that we are black natives of this country and our history is like none other than the United States. So our needs are like none other. We need someone to agree to give us more business loans so we're able to compete with races economically. We need to implement capital punishment for race soldiers who execute unknown black citizens.
And you know, that should be too hard to ask for. These people ask for our votes and we don't get anything in return. Now, that goes along with us implementing a system of black empowerment. We need to build more black businesses, black school systems, and practice group economics.
We need to build our own banks and our own political parties. There are people in this country, races of people in this country, they have a stuff like us. They have what they have an opinion on us, even though they profit from us. The most honorable, Elijah Mahan, they say, be well, the national elections, my black brothers and sisters.
There is no salvation in them for you. Only false promises. And with that, I say, and this may or may not be a popular opinion, but look at the election of Barack Obama. We all went out there.
We voted. I voted for Barack Obama and I seen a line. I seen a line. And it was very long.
It was very long. Black people came out the vote in law, his numbers won. And then we turned around. A kid is getting shot in the streets.
He says nothing. He doesn't speak up. For the great guy killed in Baltimore and the people of Baltimore decided to write. And what does he do?
He turns around and he calls him thugs. So really what would be the difference between Barack Obama and Donald Trump besides skin color. Just think about that for a moment. Think about that.
Also Malcolm X spoke on black people being political chumps. We put political parties first and he put his legs. When Malcolm X spoke on liberals, he stated that there's a difference in being friendly and being a friend. Basically what he was saying about that is, these politicians, they were act friendly with you, but they're not your friend.
They're a friend with you just to get your vote. But after that's over with, you turn around and act like you don't even exist. They question that sincerity and saying that they want to be the leader of black organizations. Case in point, raise your doors out.
They infiltrate black organizations like the NAACP. Any organization that's supposed to be for black empowerment, they infiltrate. There are white liberals that pose as friends to black and they don't ever trade the industry or the community. They work in their own interests.
They don't work in the interests of black people. They act friendly. However, if you look at their voting patterns, social patterns, they are not your friends. So just be aware, just be aware that when you're socializing and you're thinking that these white liberals have your best interests at heart.
Like Dr. John Henry Clark said, we have no friends. Somewhere along the line though, in history, we became emotionally dependent on other races. Now me, myself, I have a passion to give us justice, our passions to give us power, our passions to give us a system of organization.
Dr. John Henry Clark also stated religion is not our friend as well. You must build your own creator, your own relationship with the creator. It looks like you.
And I totally agree with that. I totally do. When guys, most black people, I know that when I ask most black people this question, they get real quiet on me because I know they answer already. I asked them, I say, when you pray to God, what vision do you see?
They get real quiet and they come up with some BS answer like, oh, I don't see no vision. You're not supposed to see visions of God. If you see visions of God, you did. And all the rest of that type of BS, they type of cop out also.
But I feel as though growing up in a church sometimes could be a negative because it'll fake that when you grow up in church and you're used to seeing that image of that white Jesus and you used to see that image, it doesn't give you opportunity to get in touch with the real guy, with your guy, with yourself. Nobody ever told you that you could look at yourself and see God. There's a reason for that. Somebody once told me that when you treat others the way they treat you, it doesn't make you any better.
You know, that's a Christian's mind state. That doesn't make you any better. My response was, okay, so if somebody snaps you and you choose not to strike them back, then that doesn't really make you a better person. That makes you a weaker person because you've shown that you have no self respect for yourself.
People will self respect for themselves. They always fight back all the time. They always show resistance. Somewhere along the line, I think we as black people, we lost it.
They are self respect for ourselves. But all is not lost, I don't think. I think that we can get it back. No.
We've been programmed to believe that we shouldn't ask for our own needs, for our own. It's like, if somebody comes to us and they say, hey, what do you want? Oh, no, don't worry about me. What you worried about other races of people, they didn't turn around and shit on you basically.
They do you wrong. Why are you worried about people that are willing to do harm for you? You willing to economically empower other races just so they could do wrong to you? That's not right.
It's inappropriate. No. We have to be able to efficiently run our own societies and our own neighborhoods. That's all the way out of this system.
Our white supremacy. And then we came to the system of black empowerment. We have been victims of propaganda. We once started after the regime of Ronald Reagan and George H.
W. Bush, who flooded the black American cities with cocaine to fund the Iran Contra War. And they never offered an apology, by the way. We thought that we had to put a little cool ally in Bill Cramp.
You know he played the saxophone, he smoked a saxophone, he and even appeared on the Osenio Hall show. However, what did he do while he was in office? In 1994, he implemented a crown bill which sparked mass incarceration. His wife Hillary Clinton, even called black men super predators.
No. Although history tells us a different story about that, who are the real super predators. But my thing is this, we keep falling for the same trick over and over again. Like somebody once said, if you keep doing something, then it becomes a choice.
We can't truly keep on being political and chance. Now, even after George Bush, you know, like I just said, there was a son about the name of Barack Obama, then he was a black man, you know, we thought he could be trusted. But guess again, more black people were murdered with impunity under Obama than ever. He didn't attempt to punish these great soldiers.
He didn't speak or act in interest of black people. He offered us just as much as his white counterparts did. During his term, he promoted in cruising this for the LGBT Americans. He advocated for gun control after Sandy Hook.
Still no cop control after Ferguson, after Ohio, after Florida. Black people voted over to get him elected in a bag fire. And speaking of Florida, the state where Trayvon Martin and Join Davis were killed. Florida Governor candidate Andrew Gilliam has yet to speak on protection for black people or black interests.
So let's talk about people. We got to get out of this mind state that we're going to vote for somebody just because they're black. You know, they don't speak for our issue. They don't speak for us.
They don't speak in our interests. We need somebody that's going to speak in our interests because we got to be able to protect our kids. We got to be able to build our communities. We got to be able to be economically sufficient to not just compete, but to dominate, you know, not to dominate like white supremacists do not to subjugate people, but to dominate but to excel.
You need to be able to say a lot of reasons. Now, we should be starting our own political party. You know, some suggesting names will be the black NATO party, the RBG party, the black American party. Now, look this up.
It's not that it's not that difficult. All we have to do is register with the FEC, the Federal Election Commission, and political parties must establish a bank account. That's what we go with the economic thing because black people is a collective whole. We have economic power if we just put it to use.
Now, we must establish a bank with one of the three with the National Bank, State Bank, the FDIC or the NCA, those are insured institutions. Then we must incorporate the committee. If a party, committee incorporates the liability purpose only. It's outgoing contributions and other expeditions or not subject to the prohibition or corporate contributions.
We have ballet access laws, the process by which candidates and political parties appear on the ballet is subject to state law. We could do this, guys. We have the opponent treasurer. Every political committee must designate the treasurer before it can be accepted because it's self contributions.
Now, if we were to do that, I think that it would be very powerful for us. That way we were able to control candidates. We are able to have them speaking to our interests. We are able to have some power in the game.
Furthermore, it will qualify as political party. Federal law confers benefits on party committees as a local, state, national level, but only groups meeting specific criteria may take advantage of those benefits. District or local party committee list the state party as is affiliate. Local committees are presumed to be under the direction and are told at the state committee.
Now, like I said, I don't think it's difficult. I just think we just need to come together with a common agenda and just do it. It's going to be hard. It may be hard, but anything that's not how it is and worth it.
I think we could get this done. We put our money to it, put our time to it, and we have to be dedicated. Also, I was doing some research from Kenner, Louisiana. It's about 10, 12 miles away from New Orleans or 12 minutes from New Orleans.
I was doing some research on New Orleans and I was looking at the politics and economics in New Orleans. Then I discovered that really truly New Orleans is the real powerful city economically, but the black people in the city are very poor and I was trying to figure out the reason for that. Now, once again, I like definitions for those who don't know where New Orleans is, but where it is, New Orleans is a consolidated city purpose located along the Mississippi River and southeastern region of the United States of Louisiana. As of 2017, there's an estimated population of 393,292 people.
It is the most popular city of Louisiana. Not only is the most popular city, but it's also the premiscity to go to, like, Baton Rouge is the capital city, but the premiscity to go to New Orleans because we have the national football teams, we have the national basketball teams, we have the tourist attractions. When people say they're going to Louisiana, most of the time they don't say, well, I'm going to Louisiana to go to Baton Rouge. They say I'm going to Louisiana to go to New Orleans because, and also with the mystique of Bourbon Street, they just love Bourbon Street.
But that's my point. The total population of black people in New Orleans is 333,831 people of the 393,292 people compared to the rest population. Black people are 80% of the population in New Orleans, but control 2% of the business in New Orleans. Think about that for a moment, guys.
That's embarrassing. You are the majority in the city, but you control the minority state of economics. It just doesn't make sense. What are we doing?
Come on. Now, in the movie Django Unchained, you know, Leonardo DiCadro's character Calvin Candy, he made a statement that resonated with me. He was sitting at the table with a character named with dark shots and he was sitting at the table with Django as well. He was just like, you know what, I don't get about these niggers referring to black people.
They outnumber us referring to white people. But they just won't kill us and take over. And I had to add that resonating because I'm thinking to myself with those numbers in New Orleans, why are we so afraid to take care of our own resources? What's happening really?
I mean, that's serious question. What's really stopping us? We circulate New Orleans as economics, but we don't control them. The richest person in New Orleans is Gail Benson with $2.7 billion.
Why haven't we taken control? Gail Benson, she makes all her money. Well, primarily all most of her money from ticket sales from the Saints and the pelicans. Both leads which are primarily black people.
When you go to football games, you go to basketball games, you see black people in the stands. For the most part, why haven't we taken control of this economy? The time to become economically sufficient, competitive, and dominate is now. We have to organize.
Marcus Garvey said it best. We are a people of petty differences. And I'll be damned if he wasn't right about that. We need more.
We deserve more. We will control our destiny. And make no mistakes about it. Our destiny is greatness.
And I truly believe we can overcome this system of white supremacy. I truly believe that guys. Now, throughout this podcast, I've quoted some great leaders. I quoted some great historic figures in black society.
And I just want to leave you with one last quote from my favorite, which is Malcolm X, our health, Malik El Shabazz, as he was called later in life. He said he said it best. I am black first. My sympathies are black.
My allegiance is black. My objectives are black. And we have to stop being political chomps. We need to be more political savvy.
You know, we need to stop letting people take our vote for granted and stop doing these trickle down politics, where they just give everybody a piece of the cake. And then the crumbs just fall down to black people. If you're going to vote, you have to get together with people and have an agenda. People talk about your vote count.
How does your vote count when you got politicians that will take your vote and then turn around and forget all about your race, all about your grievances. That just doesn't make sense. That's all I have for you tonight. And remember, the truth is powerful.