Always the pleasure of any leader of an organization to introduce one of their storied and lofty members. And i am not without that pleasure today. The only thing that trumps it is that i know him personally. Which adds a little bit more pep in my step. You notice i kind of pepped up here. But today i have the distinct pleasure of introducing to some, reintroducing to others, an eminent legal scholar, stageman and legislator. This gentleman, while he is certainly a sartorially clad gentleman, with his sharp shoes and his boots always cost upwards of many thousands of dollars, i can say that he is certainly a true testament to the old maxim that the clothes the an thinks sis, i should say, the old maxim that the clothes make the man. In this case, the clothes appropriately fit the man. And i have the distinct pleasure of introducing to you the speaker of the house of the General Assembly of virginia, representative delegate don scott. No, im not done. [laughter] the brother he is need to know who you are brothers need to know who you are. So youre going to have to sit through this a little bit today. As i talk a little bit about you. In the legislature, don scott has been a champion for reproductive rights and uplifting works families by ensuring a strong, equitable economy is the phraourality for virginia phrurality for plurality for virginia. He also includes strengthening virginias public schools, improving health care quality, and affordability. And criminal Justice Reform. In 2019 speaker scott was elected to represent the people of portsmouth as a member of the Virginia House of delegates. And in 2022, he was elected by the members of his caucus to serve as the House Democratic leader. Now, im a native virginian. Virginia was one of the very first colonies established, as you know, so in 1620, thats where well, 1619, thats where the indentured slaves from africa landed in jamestown. So let me, for those Young Brothers older brothers who may have forgot, let me just say that when attorney the scott is elected by his peers as the House Democrat leader, thats a big deal. But what im very proud to say also, in 2024 he became the first black speaker of the house of delegates in virginias history. Since 1619. [applause] hes committed to building a stronger Democratic Caucus and winning back the majority for the house of delegates. Now, let me tell you, hes a virginiaan by the taxes that he pays and where he resides but hes a texan at heart. He was born and raised in houston, texas. And let me tell you, one of six children raised by a single mother. This brother, even with few resources, performed well in schools and eventually enrolled in aerodynamickic Magnet Program at aerodynamickic magnet aerodynamic Magnet Program and he went to texas a m university where he was a student leader, was one of the prime charter members of the chapter, he was number three, how many were on your lines . 11 on the line. Number three. I wont talk about that height thing, i wont even go there. Because hes a big man in stature. Thats one of the things i love about speaker scott. He even served our nation as a naval officer where he enrolled in officer candidate school in rhode island and proudly served as an officer in the United States navy. He also went on to earn his law degree from Louisiana State university. Now, not only was he an officer and a cracksnapping officer in the navy, and now an attorney, he had a immediate oric rise in a corporate career with the k. R. A. Corporation where he rose quickly to become one of the top three officers in the company. Then in 2015 he actually opened his own law firm and before becoming a partner, brother scott now serves his clients as a personal injury attorney and serves the community as an active member of several boards and commissions. Brother scott is married to dr. Melanda coleson scott who practices dentistry in the norfolk area. And they are the proud parents of a 14yearold daughter. Brother scott is obviously a member of the bar in virginia, in the Portsmouth Bar Association as well. And the Virginia Association of criminal Defense Attorneys and the virginia trial lawyers association. And hes served in many other capacities, even holding membership in the ewe wreaka club, as well eureka club, as well as a lifetime membership in the naacp and v. F. W. Post 993 and the american leaningen post 190 legion post 190. Hes currently an active member, that means hes financial, of the epsilon chapter in portsmouth, virginia. It is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you an Alpha Phi Alpha man, a virginian and my friend, the speaker of the house of delegates of the virginia General Assembly, please welcome attorney don scott. [applause] mr. Scott you know when everybody leaves, its about to get bad. [laughter] all eyes on me. My names not tupac. Good afternoon, brothers. It is an honor to be here. I am overwhelmed for the honor of being here today with brothers from all over the country and brothers from all of the members of the divine nine. I never take the opportunity to speak before anybody, but especially my brother, i never take it lightly. Because i know that were living in some dangerous times right now. There are those who may have forgotten where weve come from. Im 59 years old, i know i look good for my age. [laughter] but im 59 years old. I was born in march of 1965. March 5 to be exact. Anybody know what happened on march 7, 1965 . Bloody sunday. Selma, alabama. Crossing the Edmund Pettus bridge. So i know we sometimes get a little high ha a lotten, were in this nice hotel, but we forget, weve only been living this socalled democracy for 59 years. Shortly thereafter was when the Voting Rights act was signed, in august of 1965. So its appropriate now that we convene today to talk about the importance of voting and specifically black men voting. Because if youre paying attention, were having some slippage around what it really means to be american right now. Not just to be a black american, but what democracy means. Were having a fight now, where were going to continue to be a democracy whether were going to continue to be a democracy. I am the grandson of a world war i veteran who signed up at 17, volunteered to get out of an east texas town called jasper, texas. He would do anything to get out of there. He lied about his age so he could go serve, so he could prove to folks that he was a man. That he could prove to folks that he was worthy to be american. Im the son of a korean war sr efplt my father veteran. My father. Who also hailed from jasper and went to prairie a m university. So i needed folks to understand when i say i take a back seat to no one on my ownership of this land. Of my ownership of america. [applause] our ancestors who came here in bondage, not far from where i live right now, thats where they came. The first slaves that came into virginia. They came right down the street from where i live and not far from where i serve now. I carry that energy with me as i walk into these rooms. Years ago i was a single mom, you always so some of yall that grew up with a father, its cool. I dont begrunge anything, but when you dont grow up with a father, you have to develop other skill sets because you only have your mother. And mothers can be very protective. My mother used to always say, keep your head down, dont say nothing, dont speak up. You got a good job, dont mess it up. But i kept wanting to do more. And when i went to texas a m university, a p. W. I. , you get there and you start figuring out, there arent many black students here. Its a large school in texas. There were about 500 black students on campus. So you could get lost in that culture and i think a lot of us now are fighting to maintain our own identity and cultural identity. And a graduate from a m went to the navy, as i said, got out, went to l. S. U. Law school. In my third year of law school, what you dont hear in my pretty bio, is i caught a federal drug conspiracy, crack cocaine conspiracy. In my final semester of law school. Im in the law library studying and the feds come in and rush the library. Arrest me, pepper walk me out perp walk me out of the library. I had to fight to get bond. Study for my finals. Pass. And a couple months after that i was being sentenced to a 10year sentence. Most folks would have gave up. The judge told me i would never be a lawyer. I settled three cases last year for about 30 million total. So dont feel sorry for me, yall. [applause] im rich. [laughter] dont feel sorry for me. But i want you to understand, i was blessed, i had this praying mother. I had this praying grandmother. And when i went away, my grandmother would tell me, im going to see you again. While i was away, as i said, i wasnt there with my father. But when this happened, my father became he became one of my best friends. So sometimes, you know, the bible says, ill make your endings greater than your beginnings. And so my father would come and see me as he was dying from lung cancer. Some of yall dont have it no more, but brothers had a big afro. My father had a big ole fro. When he came to see me e a withering man he was a withering man of heuf self. And he had never given me a whole lot at that time but he had served in the military and he left his Life Insurance policy to me, one of his four kids, he left his Life Insurance policy to me. It wasnt a lot. Maybe 30,000. So im in jail, that became the basis for where i am today. When i came out, i bought my first house with that money. I was able to take some of that money, give it to my brothers, my sisters. The mentality that i have is always family first. And so i say all of that to say, where is the love in our family right now . We have to make some tough decisions and i think right now, you know, weve always talked about this american dream. But im telling yall, were living it right now and we have a duty, because all of us in this room, we wouldnt be here if we were not comfortable in some way. And weve been blessed with so much. And we have a duty to speak to the least of these. And if youve gone through anything, it makes you have empathy for others. It makes you want to work to help others. So my mentality is until everybodys free, nobodys free. You know how bad things are when i ran for office, you know they tried to dog me out. They liked to throw in my past and all of that. So in 2019 when i ran, let me back up. Told me i wasnt going to take the bar. Told me id never take the bar. I got out of law school in 1994, never practiced, got out of jail in 2002. I took the bar for the first time in 2014 in virginia. I passed it on the first try. [applause] not because im smart. But im going to outwork everybody. See, and thats what they dont expect. Being black and being the first aint no good if youre not excellent. Dont show up black and dont be excellent. So my mentality is, when i did that and i passed the bar and i started practicing, and i made a name for myself in my community, and there were a lot of people who told me, youre doing well, dont run for office. My mama, she loved me to death. Boy, you need to sit down. [laughter] youre making good money. These people are going to mess with your money, theyre going to put all your business in the street. You know thats how your mama talk to you, right . [laughter] no, but, that same woman who was in that courtroom in 1994 when that judge made that pronouncement of that sentence, when she thought i was only going to get a slap on the wrist because id never been in trouble before, and the man said 10 years and she yelped out in pain, i heard that same woman yell yelp out whether they announced don scott was elected to the house. [applause] and so and when i saw her walking to the gallery, i was good that day. I was composed all day. But when i walked through that gallery, everybody standing and clapping, and my mother sitting in a wheelchair and i bent down and gave her a hug and i say, look at you now, helen scott. We have an obligation and a duty to those who have come before us, who made sacrifices. I mean, i think we get were so comfortable, we forget the trauma thats been put in our communities. That we carry in our blood. I think we get so comfortable sometimes we forget the shame, embarrassment, humiliation and physical torture that folks had to endure just so we could be here right now. I never forget it. And when i walk into those rooms, into that General Assembly, i see those ghosts. I see those people who had to empty peoples spitoons and peoples urine. I see people in that same General Assembly, the oldest, continuous, democratic elected body in the western hemisphere, i see the ghosts who used to take care of those people, who did not treat them as human. Who would talk about their rights as though they were not there. I see those people in that room. When i walk in that room and i look around the walls of all of the speakers who would come before me, dont none of them look like me. And i know that i have a different responsibility and obligation. Not only to black people, but to white people. Some of us got to adopt a whole lot of white friends, yall, so we can let them understand what weve been through and what we will go law that will go through. This politics thing, this voting thing, this is the most sacred right that you have and a lot of folks are throwing it away. They dont believe in it. They dont believe it makes a difference. I think it makes a difference. You got one guy who says, lets vote, and i believe in democracy. You got another guy who says, lets suspend the constitution for a couple of days. And everybodys making a big deal about age. You got an 81yearold that believes in democracy and youve got a 77yearold that doesnt and we aint talking about no big differences here. The mans 77. Make it make sense for me. We have an obligation and thats what im hopeful that as this thing continues to grow, that you will take on this and shoaledder this responsibility shoulder this responsibility. We have young men right now who cant come out of prison and do what i did. They dont believe that they even have an opportunity to achieve the american dream. They still got the stink of that jail on them. And every time somebody looks at them, thats all they want to talk about. I dont mind talking about it. My Bank Accounts fat. With he can talk about it all day. You all want to reminisce, lets reminisce. But at the end of the day, i need yall to understand where i am today. Were talking about how we move forward. So at the end of the day we have an opportunity, ill continue to believe, to tell a different story. Especially us as black men, and reach out to our folks to get them to be engaged in this political process. Because, you know, yall need to see my office that im in right now. The Speakers Office in a General Assembly. Its nuts. Its huge. I got two huge conference rooms. Huge office. They did not build that thing with my black behind in mind. [laughter] if they had known i was coming, theyd have stopped construction in june. They just opened. [laughter] so i always say, god has an amazing sense of humor. The same thing yall threw away, hell clean it up, pick it up and put it out front. I got elected in 2019, i took my oath in 2020. Four years later im getting sworn in as the speaker of the house. Thats nothing but god. And i know that so i know i have a responsibility. [applause] when i came in to virginia, to the house, the house the democrats had not been in the majority in 20 years. I got elected in 2021. I mean, 2020. We had not been in the house, in the majority, in 20 years. We immediately lost the next election. It was so bad i got elected minority leader. It was so bad they said, lets get the black exfelon to fix this thing. Thats how bad it was. [laughter] and so at the end of the day, one thing that i understand that beats everything is hard work. And discipline. And one of the things that folks think were not going to be is disciplined. And they told me i couldnt raise money. Youre black, we never had a person in this position before. Youre not going to be able to raise the money i broke the fundraising records. Because im good at asking folks for money. Broke the fundraising records. Between my election this time in november to january when i was sworn in, i raised 1 million. We can do it, yall. Dont let anybody tell you you cant. Its what you do, what you see when you look in the mirror. [applause] im going to close right now but i just want to say. This one of the proudest days i had was, after i was electeddedi hadnt talked that much. The former governor of virginia called me and we went and had breakfast. In my mind it was like i was sitting in that tomato garden with the god father and im Michael Corlione and he tells me, no, im joking. He was giving me all of the playbook that he had accumulated, the wisdom. And how to carry yourself in this position that youre in now. And we need to continue to do that. We got an obligation, yall, to get these Young Brothers involved, get them engaged and promote them. My staff is the most diverse staff in the General Assembly. My speaker staff, most diverse staff. Im intentionally diverse. I dont never want to be the only black person in the room. Some folks like that. They got one of us in here. No. I want to bring others in. I want to bring more in. I want somebody to take this spot from me, i want to keep it warm for a young brother. So im hoping that as yall continue tag through this yall continue to go through this, i know its hard. We got many roads. We got to be father, brother, provider, go out there and get it. We got a lot of pressure on us. So, you know, people are always talking about why the sororities are so much more active than the brothers, they have different responsibilities. Different pressures. I aint going to say that. Dont go there. [laughter] but what im trying to get yall to weave this all in. The people that founded this country never expected us to be where we are now. Right, right. Mr. Scott they had this great lofty ideal language, all men are created equal. They didnt see us as men but they said those words. All men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We believed them. Our people heard those words, saw the hypocrites saying it, but we said, were going to make this come to fruition. And that is the fight that we continue to fight and that is your obligation that you must continue to fight with right now. We are much we are equal and more. It is time for us to continue to do this fight, make sure that we amplify and align ourselves with the people who share our values. Not with the entertainment foolishness. Not with the machismo foolishness. But with the people that actually care about the same things that we care about. Im going to close with this. People think that black people are stupid sometimes. They always vote democrat. Why do they vote democrat . Were not asking for them to do something for us. Were voting against the people who might do something to us. We just got common sense. [applause] we just got common sense. We know theyre not they think were naive. We vote for the people thats not overtly racist. This aint hard to figure out. Its not always about just policy. Its how you are treated or youre looked at in the eyes as equal or not. And if youre not, can you demand it . And i think part of that is we have to feel comfortable going into those rooms, making demands. And getting to the table. Because you know what they say, if youre not at the table, youre on the menu. And so we have an obligation to be at that table, to continue to fight and heres an opportunity, this is the last thing im going to say. I talk about money a lot. Because its reality. And we got to understand what people care about. People care about money. And you cant get a message out without money. You cant educate a child without money. You cant do anything. Sometimes we get so idealistic that we forget it takes money to make this thing work. And so while were in these rooms and these folks are asking us to make contributions, you got to make a sacrifice. You got to make you got to make some sacrifices to put the money into the till so that we can continue to grow and produce the yuck leaders Young Leaders for tomorrow and grow politicians like me, people who will stand up and say, all i ran on was criminal Justice Reform when i came in. And protecting Voting Rights. We got and economics. You got to have the money. So im hopeful that as yall continue to have these conversations and we grow this thing, this room needs to be packed next year. Im going to do my part because im going to bring 20, 30 people in a bus next year. I got the budget for it. Were bringing some people up here next year at least. Everybody in this room needs to commit to doubling up this room next year. This room is too small for us next year. Can we agree on that . [applause] im going to close with this, yall. The first obligation of the first black speaker is to make sure theres a second black speaker and a third black speaker and a fourth black speaker and a fifth black speaker. [applause] so im hoping that yall will continue to help me with this. Im don scott, thank you all, appreciate it. [applause] [captioning performed by thenat, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2024] in the weeks that lie ahead, as friedmans first Major Television series unfolds, the famous and influential men and women who will occupy those seats are going to have a lot to say about friedmans view of the society in which we live today and his solutions for the ills of our time. Saturdays at 7 00 p. M. Eastern, American History tv will air the 10part series, free to choose featuring Nobel Prize Winning economist milton friedman. Mr. Friedman coproduced the series with his wife and fellow economist, rose friedman, and it favorite aired on first aired on Public Television in 1980. They also wrote a best selling companion book of the same name. Programs in the series take us to locations important to the u. S. And world economies. The friedmans advocate free market principles and limited Government Intervention in the economy and in social policy. Other topics include welfare, education, equality, consumer and Worker Protection and inflation. Watch free to choose saturdays at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan2. Be up to date in the latest in publishing with book tvs podcast about books. With current Nonfiction Book releases, plus best seller lists, as well as Industry News and trends through insider interviews. You can find about books on cspan now, our free mobile app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. Were funded by these Television Companies and more, including