Was C. Delores Tucker Right? Spend Dat, India.Airie & the Keepers of “Culture”

0:01 She break it down down down down. She got a message for the people. A brilliant mind and a clean soul. She's standing up to the evil and making sure that we all grow strong enough to break these chains we get and keep us in this painful condition. She give us truth and division. That's why we listen. Break it down down down down down down. >> Welcome back. Welcome back. You are listening to Lar Daniel Favors on SiriusXM's Urban View where talk empowers and becomes action where we do indeed do our best to break it down. Just a quick programming note tonight at 7:30 uh we are going to be having our

0:47 July Sanca discussion circle. Our topic is going to be America at 250. whose freedom, whose legacy and we are going to talk about the how the version of American history we were taught shapes how we see the country and our possibilities today. Uh we know that America is celebrating it 250 years, whatever the hell that means. But black communities are really having to grapple with a very important question like what does America mean for us? What has it meant? What is it going to mean? Because as we're seeing the the real effective establishment of white Christian nationalism, the destruction and dismantling of integration, uh the destruction of uh job access and employment and opportunity. This is a real moment for rebuilding. And so we're going to explore so much of that this afternoon or this evening rather at 7:30. Uh that's for all of you who are part of Sanca Connections. I see many

1:33 many many of you are are of RSVP that you will be in attendance and I'm looking forward to that being a dynamic discussion for all. And if you're not a part of Sanc Kofa Connections, that's my private online community. Think about it like my Patreon. It's just not on the Patreon network because I want it to be a space where people are able to build with each other more so than just getting more Lorie. Y'all get a lot of LR. You don't need I don't need a Patreon. You don't need a whole lot more Larie. We need to build with each other. So, uh, for those of you who are not a part of that space, you can find out more at my website, larananielfs.com. Just click the join community. Uh, and it will take you through all the prompts there. I want today to talk a little bit about culture, right? And and because we've had a lot of conversations recently about the state of black culture, the impact of black culture, how black culture is is is shaping who we are. Are we is life creating art?

2:19 Life art creating life, all these sorts of things. And and I want to have a conversation about culture today in particular, not from a I don't want to start with the the spend that lyric and India basis of it because to me that that shortcircuits our ability to have an analytical appreciation for this topic. I want instead to talk about the word culture. The root of the word culture is cult. Cult. And we we had a lot of reasons to talk about culture lately because black Christian nationalism is thriving and that's very much a cult. Uh but the root word cult comes from the Latin word cultus cu which essentially we translate that to mean things like to to till tend or to worship, right? to to provide care for such that you are growing and elevating a thing from one stage to another. Uh

3:06 that's where we get words like agriculture like agriculture speaks to our ability to go out into as agrarians right and and dill in dig into the soil. I said dill into the soil. Dig into the soil, plant something and grow it. Provide it with what it's going to need, the nutrients it's going to need, the water it's going to need so that it grows into a crop that we are then able to consume or or appreciate for for whatever it is able to provide us. And so agriculture uh we we talk about faculty. Faculty are are people in a college or a learning institution that are designed to create and to stimulate you in such a way that it is going to pull out of you the genius that is within. Right? When you look at the root words of education, educay really speaks to the idea that we are creating, we as educators are creating a set of external stimuli, things that are happening outside of you that is designed to reach

3:52 into you and pull out the genius that is there. I know that's not a very American approach to education. In America, we tend to think about students as blank slates. But I'm going back to what education used to be, what it truly was uh before white Christian nationalism, colonization, and European whiteness culture took hold of it. Um, and so when we're talking about uh cultivation, when we're talking about agriculture, again, going back to that word, that is the science, the art and the practice of cultivating soil, of producing crops, raising livestock, and culture are the shared values, the the customs, the behaviors, and the artifacts that categorize a a group or a society. That's according to uh uh uh dictionary.com. But I prefer when I'm talking about culture to always go to Dr. Tyrone Tower, uh Dr. Tyrone Howard's book and his book, Why Race and Culture

4:38 Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in America's Classrooms. I actually have that book somewhere in the house, but it's got to be in another library on a different floor because it's not anywhere on this bookshelf, and I've been searching for it all morning. Uh, but that book, Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in America's Classrooms, in that book, Dr. Tyrone Howard reminds us what culture is. And culture as he describes it is quote a complex constellation of values, mores, norms, customs, ways of being, ways of knowing, and traditions that provide a general design for living and is passed from generation to generation. And here's the kicker, it serves as a pattern for interpreting reality. In this book, Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools, Dr. Howard talks about the fact that our

5:24 culture is one of our most powerful learning tools. And he says that when you force black children and other non-white children to leave their culture at the door, you're really depriving them of the intellectual capacity, their fullness of their intellectual capacity, it as it pertains to their ability to make sense of the world around them to to make decisions about what is good, what is bad, to to analyze whatever it is that is in front of them. And and so when we're thinking about phrases like we do it for the culture, a lot of times when we're talking about it that way, we we do so in a way that kind of indicates we're talking about the clothes that we wear or or the food that we eat or or even the languages that we speak, the music that we listen to or the traditions that we practice, the faiths that we espouse. Now those things, right, our clothes, our music, our food, our languages, traditions, culture, faith, all of those

6:10 things, those are elements of our culture. But our collective culture, all of those elements go into creating an overall culture which is a tool for cultivating or growing the people. The people that practice the culture are being trained by the culture about how to see the world. The people who practice and incorporate the culture into their lives are being trained by the culture about how to be, how to know. Uh the the the general design for living and that intergenerational interpretive reality tool is something that the culture that the people don't just use as representatives of the culture. The culture is essentially the the way that the people learn how to be. It's a very important thing when we're

6:56 talking about culture. It's not just about can you speak Ebonics versus it's not just about do you practice Kwanza or do you It's about how all of those things are the tools that we use to decide what kind of people we want to be. And one of the reasons that's important is because culture really does let us know when we're in the right hand of of our goodness or we're in the wrong hand of our goodness. And and you can use culture either proactively or passively, right? It can be something that you passively consume and engage in or it can be something that you proactively use to guide your people in a particular direction. I'm always interested in in uh Hebrew schools. I shared with you all a couple years ago at the beginning of the show and I've shared this story a few times ever since that when I was in law school, I went to NYU for law school and there's one day I

7:42 mean I you know I was one of them first year law students. We was going to have a conversation like we weren't going to just let y'all say any racist ass [ __ ] in the classroom and then like me not say nothing. In fact, I met up with one of my law school classmates a couple weeks ago. Accidentally just ran to her in the street. She was like, "Larie, I used to think you were crazy. You were always so passionate about these things and now I realize you were correct." That's what I be telling y'all. Y'all be thinking I be hyperbolic. I just be right and I be early because I read. Not because I'm there's anything inherently genius about me. I just read a lot. And one of the reasons that this uh this was important, this moment in law school was so important is because I had had one of these recent crashs or or debates in the classroom. And one of the people I had been in a debate with, we were both in the laundry room thereafter because we both lived on campus. We were in the laundry room. And so he's like, "Dude, Lori, like I totally to, you know, I

8:27 support diversity." Like I I really didn't know who this person was. I don't even actually remember what his name was, but this was a very pivotal moment that I have not let go in my memory. And he says, "Dude, I don't really, you know, like I I totally believe in diversity, but like I learned in Hebrew school, I can't help you if if I haven't met my own needs yet." And and I later came to find out that what he was drawing from was an idea that he was taught in Hebrew school that many Jewish community members are taught which basically says if I have not met my own needs, I'm of no use to you. And if I have to be of use to you, I got to meet my own needs first. Right? Nothing wrong with that. I think it's a very powerful principle. But I was like, "Wait a minute. Hold on. Where you learn that? Who who taught you that?" And he said he learned it in Hebrew school. And so I began peppering him with all these questions. I was like, "What what is this Hebrew school thing?" And I come to find out that Hebrew school was this cultural religious institution that

9:14 Jewish people created to solve a few problems they were having. In the early 1800s, uh there's a woman by the name of Rebecca Gratz, Jewish woman, and she and a number of other Jewish women who lived in Philadelphia at the time were very concerned about a number of problems that they were recognizing within the Jewish community, like the fact that you had Jews who were immigrating from a variety of different countries all around the world coming into America, but they they didn't know how to speak Hebrew. or they didn't know how to read read Hebrew or speak Yiddish or or they didn't know their customs, the rituals, the the they didn't know how to do the Torah stuff like all that, you know, in the five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy. They didn't know none of that stuff. And so Rebecca Grat was like, "Well, this is a problem." And so she and a number of other Jewish women looked to the Sunday school model that we did, like the Sunday school model that we used to have. And they use that

10:01 Sunday school model to basically ensure that they were going to be able to teach their Jewish children all the things that they thought Jewish children needed to know in order to be good Jewish adults. So this is no different than what Africans did or and still do when it comes to having a rights of passage ceremony when you are you know of the age where you're beginning to reach puberty and and they will put you in a program extensive program. We see images of this uh recounted in stories like roots both the original and the ret retold version. Uh you you study rights of passage programs because they help you to have a very intense period where you are ensuring that the participants are going to get access to the information the culture the knowledge the wisdom that you need them to have in order to be good members of your society. So, Hebrew school is a phenomenal thing. And to this day, this started in what, 1838, I believe it was.

10:47 To this day, you can type in, you know, Hebrew school and your zip code and you going to find a Hebrew school damn near anywhere in the country where there was a a a population of Jewish people of note. They're going to do that for their friends or their family and their community. I remember we were in Savannah, Georgia years ago. My husband and I were planning to get married decades ago. My husband and I were planning to get married because we want to get married somewhere black. And so, we were exploring, you know, the Galaguchi community and and the the island, the Sea Islands. and and we're coming we're at one point driving through Savannah and we was in what was clearly like the hood of Savannah like it was black people like we it was clearly us. It looked like us. It it felt like us. The the buildings looked like they were buildings that had been designed and left and abandoned for us. And then we were as we're driving down the street all of a sudden we go from concrete devastation to grass. It was a beautiful it was like an abrupt transition. And I'm like where did this property come from? And you look back as

11:33 we're driving past and there's this beautiful building erected right next to like a plot of land that was not at all beautiful and had not been beautified and it had Hebrew letters on it. It was a Jewish center for the community in Savannah, Georgia. And so I say that to say Hebrew school is a very good example as to what uh a a healthy, vibrant, proactive use of culture looks like. Proactive use of culture. And the idea isn't just that you you go to Hebrew school. If you don't go to Hebrew school, you can't take your b mitzvah, your bat mitzvah. You don't get access to being considered an adult in the Hebrew or in the Jewish community. Your ba mitzvah and your bat mitzvah is like a major test you have to take as you turn 13. They have to do this whole public presentation. And it's a very it's a beautiful thing and it's all a part of their culture and that cultural tool. As I asked Miss Glattis uh who was

12:20 one of the Jewish elders that I had a chance to talk to about Hebrew schools many many years ago and I was like, "Miss Glattis, how do you get kids Jewish kids to like Hebrew school?" And Miss Glattis says to me, "Dear, nobody likes Hebrew school. we incentivize it. And she talked about all the ways that they would have like, you know, a stock trading class at the end of Hebrew school and give the kids a gift card and they all get to trade their first stocks or they would have some sort of interact. They would basically bribe the kids to be willful participants of the culture. Having said all that, I would like to now talk about the power of music. Now, the power of music is very important. And the reason the power of music is very important is because it's a cultural element. And we know that music is important. uh we see it being used in in uh jingles and commercials and ads. Uh we know that music is a very important tool of the culture. It

13:06 conveys messages. We can all know all 26 letters of our ABCs right now because of a song, right? Music is an extraordinarily powerful educational tool. Now, I know some of you are already got your guard up about where we going with this. And so, I want you to ease just ease a little bit. You don't have to have your guard up. It's fine. We're going to have a lovely conversation. But I want you all to take a listen to this video. This is a video you all may recall in the first year or so of my show and I have to get this brother back. I had Dr. Ola Day uh Williams who is a professor of neurology and the vice dean of community health at Columbia University Valos College of Physicians and Surgeons on my show a couple of years ago. Dr. Olid, I hope I'm saying his name correctly. I fear I am not. He is also one of the founders of Hip Hop Public Health. I want you all to take a listen to this clip. This is a video from Hip Hop

13:52 Public Health that basically talks about why it is this neurosurgeon uses music, hiphop music, as one of the most powerful tools that he has when it comes to spreading a public health message. Now, this is going to just stick with it for a minute. I know some of y'all are feeling away already because you know we you saw the title. You know we talking about spin that ease up a little bit. Let's take a listen to this video and then we're going to unpack it on the other side. Amina, let's hear it. The power of music is strong and no one knows that better than the founders of hip hop public health, legendary artists Douggee Fresh and Dr. Elijah Williams. These two visionaries have collaborated with acclaimed artists, educators, researchers, and medical experts to

14:37 create a transformative learning studio. The goal is to show young people the importance of health and healing and to inspire them to take action. We create multimedia resources, lesson plans, and unique program content that focus on health literacy. Artistled conversations, and shared experiences make physical and mental health a priority. It's critical to provide our young people with the knowledge and ability to develop healthy habits to care for themselves, their families, and communities alike. Our programs empower this generation to step up and become the next health MC's. Health inequities gravely affect communities that are underserved, causing a lack of reliable information and barriers to preventative care. Hip hop public health can help bridge these gaps and inspire multiple

15:24 generations to lead healthier lives. We prove that hip hop culture together with science can be a powerful tool for health behavior change here at home and across the world. The work of hip hop public health is essential to our collective future as today's young people become tomorrow's adults. Ah, I love a good educational video. I do. I really, really do. And one of the reasons why sharing that video was so important is to help us be reminded as to the power that hip-hop provides for us. Right. And I had Dr. Oliday on my show a couple years ago and he as a part of the hip-hop public health effort um are also a part of the multiensory multi-level health education model uh that weaves together m I'm reading

16:10 directly from their site that weaves together music hip-hop culture and the science of human attention this allows us to establish cultural and emotional connections with educational resources to build health literacy and spark health behavior change one of the things that they have done is use as they described briefly there uh they had years ago this project where he was trying to prevent stroke Dr. Ola Day is a neurologist. He was trying to prevent strokes and he realized that there was not enough public health information that was breaking through. And so they created a strong a song about strokes. Him and Douggeie Fred, they had a whole song about strokes. And what they noticed in the immediiacy of that song coming out was that the level of people proactively seeking out medical care for stroke prevention and for assistance during a stroke shot up. and it shot up so much so that the the Harlem community where he was based, they began having

16:55 greater numbers and greater percentages of the population coming in for stroke concerns than in other wealthier surrounding communities because of the popular and they tied it directly to the popularity of the song because the song is a part of the culture. And one of the things that Dr. Williams talked about when he was on the show was that the portion of our brains that processes sound is very close to the portion of our brain that processes images. That's one of the reasons why when you have a a learning uh pneumonic or a device that combines sound and images, it is one of the most powerful learning tools we can create or we can have. That's one of the reasons why jingles and the science of jingles in songs is so very dynamic. Um how many of y'all want a French fry right now? Right. So when we think about these things and we think about music

17:42 and images, commercials are really a a prime example as to the power of music to shift behavior. The power of music and images to drive decisionmaking. Advertising is a multi-trillion dollar industry. And the reason corporations spend so much money on advertising is that when I can combine images and sound, I can determine how you're going to act. I can program you to move in certain ways. Jingles are those short sort of catchy tunes that they they use in ads and then they will lodge that brand's name or slogan or call to action directly in your long-term memory. According to a number of scientists, uh they serve as quote brain hacks that use rhythm, rhyme, and simple melodies to bypass

18:28 your brain's critical filters, making the information almost impossible to forget. Another thing that Dr. Williams talked about was that when you are using music early in a child's life, early in a human's life, the things that they are exposed to musically will stay with them far more than other forms of educational content. Are we clear? Everybody clear on the power. Music ain't just a thing that we do. It ain't just what we sing. No, no, no. It ain't just that. It's it's a tool for education. It is one of the most powerful education tools that we have ever known as human beings. And so when we have content like the following which I'm going to read for you with no rhythm, right? I just want you to hear the words of the content.

19:14 Then I want us to discuss on the other side what we think the end object or the end result of using this content in a song. What is the educational lesson that is going to be promagated? And then we can decide if we like that educational message or not. But we first got to be clear when someone like an India AI says that all music has a programming capacity, she's not speaking from a woo woo woo like African, you know, woo woo woo sort of spiritual high goddess priestess perspective. She's talking neurological science. It's science. You may not like that, but you can't just say it's the culture and have that excuse the science. So let's look at one of the cultural elements

20:00 that has been put to song that we now can hold up as against what we now know about the power of music and the influence of music in education. Okay. Someone said like hooked on phonics. Exactly. Exactly. Or or programs like Fresh Prep. Fresh Prep was a program for New York City students who had failed the Regent exam because in New York City we were the we're the only city where you got to take an exam at the end of all your classes, at the end of all your years to basically see if you actually graduate. Getting all straight A's is good, but if you don't get your region's diploma, that means you did not take those tests and pass them. And in New York City, we had this program called Fresh Prep, which would basically take the entire New York City high school curriculum, put it to hip-hop beats. Uh folks like Jadenna were a part of it. Jeda was on the board. I've interviewed Jadenna on this show years ago when he was a member of the board of Fresh Prep and they basically would take the entire New York City curriculum, put it to a dope ass beat, and them kids that had failed the regions before passed with

20:47 flying colors at the top of the ranks. So, let's go into some educational content today. All right. Where all my I'm going to use the N-word in this. Amina, don't bleep it out. I know it's going to be uncomfortable, but it is what it is. Ready? Here we go. I'm just reading. No music, just lyrics. Where all my scamming ass [ __ ] at? Spend that money fast. 20s, 50s, hundreds cash. Boy, go in that Goyard bag. Boosting [ __ ] where y'all at? Stuffing that [ __ ] in your bag just to flip it. Pop some tags. Girl, go in that Goyard bag. Spend that [ __ ] Spend that [ __ ] Spend that [ __ ] Spend that [ __ ] Spend that [ __ ] [ __ ] Spend that [ __ ] I like gangster ass [ __ ] Making more

21:33 than 10 figures. I'm a down ass [ __ ] riding you in the splat. Only [ __ ] with the hitters. For his girl, he a tricker. Calling up his trap phone. [ __ ] [ __ ] where you at? Show me where you spend the block on your ops. Hanging out the drop screaming, "Fuck the cops." What we doing, [ __ ] Show me where your hood at. Where's your face card, [ __ ] Where you're good at. Where all my scamming ass [ __ ] at? Spending that money fast. 20s, 50s, hundreds cash. And then she goes on with the rest of the lyrics. Spend that, spend that, spend that [ __ ] Blah blah blah blah blah. Where all my [ __ ] getting money like they [ __ ] putting it up in case the feds come and get them? Got they own. Don't do it for the plot. Badass [ __ ] Make a [ __ ] cop and block. [ __ ] smooth. Make a [ __ ] think he landed. Bosed up. [ __ ] [ __ ]

22:20 Who you playing with? Right plan, wrong [ __ ] Nothing average. Bust down Pek. I ain't never been a plain [ __ ] And then it goes on and and you might think, Larie, for those of you who are not familiar with the source of that content, you might think, why on earth would a show like this be using language like that? That is the lyrical content of one of the songs that has been declared to be the song of the summer. At the same time where I as a parent am getting constant reports about people very upset about teen takeovers and and the gathering of teenagers who don't have a place to play, don't have a place to do anything constructive. So, they're gathering and terrorizing communities. That that's the reporting. I as a parent who am trying to figure out whether or not I can let my children out the house to engage in a variety of activities

23:05 with their friends. If I know that this is going to be the m the lyrical content of what they're going to be listening to. My question is as a black woman, as a parent, as a human being who now has the knowledge about the power of sound, music, and imagery coming together to be the most powerful education tool that we have ever known as human beings. My question is, what do we as the blacks anticipate the educational outcomes of this sort of content will be on the culture? This is not a judgment. You can I listen to a whole lot. I still got two short lyrics that I can spit for you right now. You bleeding, can't think about sex, irritated by your cold text, we don't need to kiss. We don't have to [ __ ] I'll pull out my dick, [ __ ] You can I remember that from being 12 years

23:51 old. Okay, I remember that. And it had an impact on my understanding of the decisions that I could then make. And so without judging because if you're gonna we're going to do what we gonna do. People gonna get an opportunity to to listen to what they going to listen to. But when my 12-year-old is singing that, okay, we don't play it in the house. But it is an educational tool. The song is going it's catchy. It's it's got the all the new all the devices of a catchy song. It's a very powerful educational tool. What do we anticipate the outcome of the song will be? Now, and here's the thing. The only reason this is an issue is because when Indie found out about the song, indie made a couple comments and Indie said, uh, she didn't call for a boycott. A woman by Mrs. MJ Tedla

24:37 called for a boycott and said that I'm calling for a boycott of Young Miami song spend that. I believe it's degrading to our culture. At some point, we have to take seriously the power music has over our perception and the values it reinforces. This can't be the song of the summer. India, which is based on everything I just said about education. I I fully agree. That's that's what the science tells us about the power of music. Indie says, "I spent my entire adult life caring way too much because I finally learned that not everybody cares and explaining it to them is not going to make them care. Everything you listen to, or eat is going to in everything you listen to, see, or eat is going to influence you. So make wise choices, y'all." That is a very rational grownup opinion and perspective about the impact of the music. Feels very much like for some of us like a a hearkening back to C. Dolores Tuckup who said these things in

25:23 much more prolific ways. And and the reason that having this conversation kind of troubles me is because that lyric that I just spat for y'all, that two short lyric, it's a whole the entirety of the hip-hop genre has been nothing but degrading and diabolical for black women. Like we can we can acknowledge that it has been nothing but degrading and diabolical for black men by promoting a hyper masculinity that quite frankly puts black men in a position where they think aspiring to that version of manhood is what they're supposed to do. And that's the version of manhood that gets them locked up, gets them attacked by the cops and exposes them to all sorts of harm that artists are never going to take responsibility for. So I hate that this is the conversation we're having right now when a woman has put out a song about of of this sort. But hell, it's here. Why? We didn't tell y'all to make it the song of the year. I don't know who decided that BET, but since BET is

26:09 not blackowned and this is very much in alignment with what a non-blackowned entertainment space that has done everything it could to promote only the worst content that our artists have to put out. And by worst, I mean the type of content that is going to encourage us to do things that are anti- US, it shouldn't be a surprise. So 866818255 866801 talk. We got to have the conversation. If we know what we now know about education and music and the power of music to program behavior, to program decision-making. If we know that corporations spend trillions of dollars investing in music because they know that the science of a jingle is such that it is going to pro promote you to to to make decisions. It is going to push you to do what it is that they want you to do. We got to ask ourselves who's pushing

26:55 this sort of song and what do they hope this sort of song is going to produce in terms of our behaviors and our actions. And considering that the people in our community who adhere to these sorts of choices that are promulgated in the song usually end up under arrest taking pleas for [ __ ] that they don't have the legal capacity to defend themselves against whether they were actually guilty of a thing or just accused of being guilty of a thing. Considering that that tends to be the outcome and considering the person who created the song is like a whole ass diddy apologist like who is like a really not a good human being and has done some really terrible things for that to be the song of the year considering the challenges

27:42 that we are facing as a community. I'm just curious as to what we expect is going to be the outcome of continuously feeding ourselves as content. We saw New Jack City. We saw what happened to Pooky. We see what happens when the culture, which again, let me go back to my notes. The culture, Hold on, hold on. I ain't I ain't judging. This ain't judging. I'm just saying. But what is the culture? It is a complex constellation of values, moray, norms, customs, ways of being, ways of knowing, and tradition that do what? Provide a general design for living. Should it surprise any of us that a significant portion of the least empowered of our community are living lives that very much reflect the outcome of the sorts of choices that a young Miami is advocating for in this song. Choices that quite

28:27 frankly leave our community absolutely devastated. Is any of that young Miami's fault? No. But damn, we got to take responsibility for the choices that we are making. So when the clothes, food, music, languages, and whatnot are elements of a culture, which is a tool, and the sorts of tools that are being aimed at us are being wielded by wealthy white people who benefit from us operating out of our most degenerate stages, I just think we have to have a question. We have to have a conversation about what are we going to do about the nature of the culture today? Are we happy with the culture? Maybe it's solving all of our needs. Maybe we have everything that we need as a result of the culture. Maybe our culture is doing for us what a Hebrew school does for the Jews. Maybe. I don't

29:13 see it, but maybe. And and so listen, if we're, as somebody just said in the comments, we need to stop complaining about being followed in stores if we're going to make music about stealing. I mean, because the cultural products that we produce doesn't just educate us, it also educates everyone else who consumes our music. And so, if you're going to be one of the people who say something like, "Well, it's white people who mainly buy that music." Yes. And so when white people respond to us based on what they know of us about our music and then we want to get mad at the white people for responding in ways that we have trained society to see us or when we get mad at non black Americans who come over here and have a negative perception about us and be like they don't even like us when they come here. Maybe part of the reason, just a suggestion, part of the reason other blacks might not

29:59 like American blacks is because a lot of the cultural exports that we produce highlight that we are not only terrible human beings who steal, rob, and do drugs and will kill each other through our music, but our women ain't [ __ ] our men ain't [ __ ] and we like part of the reason I'm saying all of it, just saying a little bit little bit of the reason that other people come here and see us as dangerous to be avoided in addition to what they're taught about black Americans. has a lot to do with what black Americans teach the world about how to see us. Perhaps I don't know. 866818255 866801 talk. All I know is it would be a real great experiment to see if we shifted our musical content just as one example of there's so many things in culture that we could shift. But if we were to just take the musical content and shift it for like a good a one-year

30:46 period, what if we all agreed we're only going to consume positive content that is going to put us in a a spirit of of community building? Because right now, they done destroyed integration. Right now, they done destroyed everything that has allowed us to come out of Jim Crow into this era. And for the first time, our music don't reflect the times. Our music, the music that's coming out right now largely that is being consumed. Yes, I know we got the rapidities, we got the the Chica, we got the the the independent art. I get it. I understand it. But largely speaking, where's the movement music? The music that should be the hottest song of the summer should be the music that's dealing with the fact that black people are getting lynched massively. Young black people who are in the direct target demographic of a song like this are being lynched. Where's the songs dealing with that? Where's the

31:32 songs dealing with the fact that it's over a million black people who's unemployed? The black unemployment rate is now reaching 8%. like where's the musical content, the cultural components that are supposed to be in place to help us navigate that? Because culture is a tool. Music is one of the cultural tools. And if our current cultural tools are essentially setting us up to maintain our position at the bottom rung of society, then at what point do we decide to take responsibility for them? 8668018255. 866801 talk is the number. We're going to head to commercial break. YouTube, I look forward to seeing y'all wrestle this out in the comments. Urban View, give me a call. Let me know. I may have missed it. I could be completely wrong about all of this. Could be completely wrong. Let a sister know. We'll be right

32:18 back after this.