Transcripts For CNNW United Shades Of America 20200817

Black folks are getting the covid19 virus at a. Higher rate than white folks. If you dont see how the killing of george floyd and the protests that followed are tied to reparations, you may need to go back and watch every single else of united shades of america. Then you will see we are way past time for reparations. Did she just get naked for beads . Its not even mardi gras. Most people come to new orleans for this. Weirdly colored drinks loaded with alcohol. This isnt the whole story of new orleans. It is a big, vibrant city with a large story to tell. Well talk about the parties. Were talking about reparations. You might want to mix yourself a stiff drink. As the race for 2020 starts to heat up, so is the debate over reparations for slavery. Its coming, everybody. Chris knows it reparations for africanamericans congress has the duty to do the right thing and a bunch of people who want to be president know it. Hive and well in every aspect time to start the National Full blown conversation about reparations. I agree. Of course, you do, bernie. Okay, reparations arent exactly coming yet but it looks like the United States is finally ready to have the discussion to talk about reparations. Meaning that the United States would pay back black folks for all the free labor it got during slavery and all the damage done to the black Community Every day since. And there is no other place to have that conversation than new orleans. Theres no city in the country that combines the best of americas blackness with the pain of managers racism and the pain of watching white folks exercising all their rights. Ive been coming to new orleans since i was a kid. I just vacationed with my family here. I know this city and its history. As much as its been identified as a party city, you can turn a corner and feel like youve walked smack dab into the antebellum south. Dont believe me . Just as i pulled into town, new orleans was hosting the reenactment of a slavery rebellion. At least i think it was a reenact many. They looked serious. It was in 1811 and i dont have to tell you, it was not successful. We all know slavery didnt end in 1811. The new york artist dread scott is the one who came one the idea. This is not a project about slavery. I dont want to dress up as a slave. Im dressing up as a liberated person. Im dressing up as person fighting for liberation. We came to pay homage to our an assess toward. As far as dressing up, it was that an easy decision to make . It was emotional. I feel like, what do i have to cry about . They sacrificed. So for me. The least i can do is pay them back. Singing the songs and chanting. How was the walk . Exhausting but we made it. They didnt give up, so why should i . I was just walking. And all of a sudden, look. My tear ducts started filling up. Whats going on . Ive marched all over the city. You see a lot of people here. Powerful stuff. I also had a white guy who i think was hired to help. Even at the rebellion reenactment, white people walk through the shot. Even rereenactment, white people hey, look. I really dont want to spend too much time on the reparations episode talking about slavery. If were going to talk about it, lets to go someone who has recently changed the conversation. This is Nicole Hannah jones. New york times Racial Justice reporter and creator of the 1619 project. The 1619 project is named after the year when the first 20 to 30 enslaved africans arrived in virginia to find out how much worse things could get. An unvarnished look into the history of slavery told through pictures, poems and much more. It is an amazing thing about this country. The past matters only in the way we want the past to matter. I say it all the time. You cant say that the declaration of independence Still Matters or the constitution Still Matters but 1619 doesnt. But slavery doesnt. Jim crow doesnt. We cant pick those parts of us that we think really define who we are as americans if theyre good. But ignore those things that also define us as americans if theyre bad. Thats the whole purpose of the 1619 project. Not to tell a history but to answer that most common question that black people get, slavery was a long time ago. Why dont you get over it . Thats the thing. From the moment the emancipation proclamation, the 13 amendment, america was working to get black folks as close to slavery as possible. We cant just do it flat out but we can put them in jail and take away their rights to vote and still have to pay them a living wage. Yes, you can learn to read but we can make your schools so bad so you wont learn at the same rate. Yeah. We can ensure your book doesnt have a teacher or a book. You have the right to read. Just not the ability to be taught to read. So many things in modern life can be traced back to slavery. We cannot be liberated from it if we dont acknowledge the role that it plays right now. To me, reparations has to be three pronged. Recommitment to strong enforcement of civil rights laws. You go get this economic payment but we know black people still face discrimination in every aspect of society. The housing margaret, the job market, criminal justice. And then i think there needs to be a really large investment of resources into the black communities that have had that wealth extracted and have been denied the ability to live like other americans. And i think anyone arguing for reparations that is not arguing for a cash payment is basically as racist. I like that. I thought you were going to soft pedal something. No. Its only when it comes the black folks that were so concerned how people will spin. If they can spend it responsibly. I say this jokingly. If i want to spent my recommend ragss on all gooxucci, thats m right. Were very suspicious of that. If you hurt me in my car you made me suffer money. And that may be way bigger than the actual money owed. We get that in everything except racism makes you illogical. So all of these concepts of law and morality that we understand, everywhere else, when it comes the black folks, oh, hell no, i dont get it. What will money do . Why should i have to pay you . I never owned slaves. You didnt have to. If the government, if you can inherit wealth, which we all understand, then you also inhear it debt. vo with tmobile for business, your business has an easy choice. The largest 5g network. Awardwinning customer satisfaction. Insanely great value. Choose. Any. Three. Ready when you are. Youve been avoiding. Like people. And pants. Ings but dont avoid taking care of your eyes, because were here to safely serve you with new procedures that exceed cdc guidelines and value your time. Visionworks. See the difference. We embody that deep rooted history within our city. It took this pandemic for us to get uncomfortable, to pivot. But weve risen to the occasion. I love to say that we have survived the great depression. We have survived the recession and we are survivors. Hold on one second. Sure. Okay. Okay safe drivers save 40 guys guys check it out. Safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 safe drivers save 40 thats safe drivers save 40 . It is, thats safe drivers save 40 . Hes right there. Its him hes here. Hes right here. Hi hi. Hey thats totally him. Its him thats totally the guy. Safe drivers do save 40 . Click or call for a quote today. Stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. And take. It. On. With rinvoq. Rinvoq a oncedaily pill. Can dramatically improve symptoms. Rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. And for some. Rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. Thats rinvoq relief. With ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. Rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred. As have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. Your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. Tell your doctor about any infections. And if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. Take on ra talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. Rinvoq. Make it your mission. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. All the damage Hurricane Katrina has already caused and more you know the story. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was responsible for almost 2,000 deaths and an estimate 161 billion in damage across the gulf coast. Mostly in Southeastern Louisiana and coastal mississippi. The Largest National disaster in American History. Some of you are thinking, katrina . I thought this was about slavery reparations. Well, the governments lackluster response after katrina is still about reparations. And it was definitely lack luster. No matter what bush said about female. Brownie, youre doing a heck of a job. Even though the seventh ward which at the time was a black working class neighborhood, might not be the first area you think of when you think of katrina, it has a katrina story to tell. This is the activist who grew up here. Yeah. I deal with stuff like this. Youll forgive him if he doesnt seem all that impressed with me. Hes done it before with better company. Most notably, with spike lee in his film, when the levies broke. I like interviewing here because the new orleans you see now is not the new orleans i grew up in. If you look at this area here, prior to katrina, this whole area was a Public Housing development. All of this was public house. When the storm came, we got very little water. But they declared a national emergency. Came with guns and state police and theyre lining buss on the interstate as far as the eye can see. Told you to get on the bus. You didnt even know where you was going. So they put all the poor people out. And many of those people found out they wouldnt ever be able to go back home because the city tore down their Affordable Housing and did not rebuild it. It age right. What is this now . Thats private now. Did you feel live back there . You can live back there if you have money. The government said they wanted new orleans to be more anoon. And the way to do that was, to get rid of poor people. Now with 100,000 fewer black people live in the city than in 2000. People think katrina was a national disaster. Katrina was a national man made disaster. It was a natural event that men turned into a disaster. The seventh ward evacuation and the tearing down of the Public Housing in an area that barely got any water was an effort to push black people out of neighborhood is not the official line of local government. What . Today we made a unified decision to move forward every citizen has a right to return to the city. Unified . Im pretty sure a lot of new orleans go folk wouldnt describe it as unified. When they wanted to go hole, their home was gone and the city wouldnt build new ones. Unified. So you can see it through the response of katrina. To me, the link to slavery is so clear here. Its a good modern example of how ruthless people with money and power can be when it comes down to making sure they stay on top and we stay on the bottom. What is this . Thats my Elementary School i went to. Yeah, youre pointing at something totally empty. Whats that . Thats where i used to go to school. And now its nothing. Now its nothing. When was it torn down . After katrina. When you take down all that housing, no more kids to go here. Everything was anchored by Public Housing. So you want to change the scope of new orleans, the first thing is to get rid of poor people. So when they tore down Public Housing, they made the first step toward redefining the whole he essence of new orleans. If i was to give you the power to repair all this, whatever magic you need, the reparations wand, what would you do . I think the debt to black folk is so high. We would break america. They wrote out a check. Insufficient funds. Yeah. When we talk about the concepts of recommeparations, then we ha talk about how well go after reparations. It has to be more than us asking the congress. Us trying to go through the courts. You have to build a Peoples Movement thats so powerful, you shape the roots of america. People say they want you to be peaceful and nonviolent. I might be nonviolent but i age gonna be peaceful. You can forget about that. Peace is a weapon of those in power. Weve got to take everything we want. So im going to stop here because im drooling. You all enjoy yourself. Are you good . Prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. Thats over 25 million people. With over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of Financial Professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone. We make it easy for you with online tools, esignatures, and nomedicalexam life insurance. Plan for better days. Go to prudential. Com or talk to an advisor. Plan for better days. I cant wiat to share at ts big 5g news. shouting through the glass at t has nationwide 5g . Yup and thats faster . Faster, yea but is it reliable . Ah huh and secure you should consider making a big deal about it bigger . I said bigger oh, bigbigger deal bigger than what im doing . Its not complicated. A 5g Network Needs a 5g device. Now everyone including existing customers can get a free Samsung Galaxy note20 after tradein. I dont have to worry about that, do i . Are irritated. Harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. Crest gum detoxify, voted product of the year. It works below the gum line to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. Gum detoxify, from crest. Plan matters more than ever. Unitedhealthcare Medicare Advantage plans have so much to take advantage of. See a doctor from the comfort and safety of home with zero copay. Call today to get more of the care you need. With zero copay. Simon pagenaud takes the lead at the indy 500 coming to the green flag, racing at daytona. Theyre off. In the kentucky derby. Rory mcllroy is a two time champion at east lake. He scores stanley cup champions touchdown only mahomes. The big events are back and xfinity is your home for the return of live sports. A book that youre ready to share with the world . Get published now, call for your free publisher kit today every black neighborhood had or has a store like this. A hub for activism and a place to talk. There is a lot of angst, a lot of anger, a lot of hurt. Not just financial but a lot of folks, especially elders, that passed after the storm. People say, well, thats heart break. I really believe it was exacerbated by the situation. The lack of response. Were adjusting to new orleans. I see you over there listening. Ear hustling. Thats my spot. If you will step into this. All of this is affectinging, not just the physical body but the spiritual body. Thats why coming here matters. We have some of the most amazing conversations here. This is my other side. Okay. Kamau. How are you doing . Oh, thank you very much. Thank you, thank you. If anyone wants to join us at the table, what is your role here . You know what . I havent the foggiest idea. What is my role . Yeah, thats it. This is a classic black book store conversation. Fast moving. Dropping knowledge and pre tense. Whether you can keep up or not, believe me, it is all about reparations. Thats pretty much what every store like the is. This is a poor state, a slave state. Ive heard that said. It is a slave state. Not was a slave state. Yes. Very clear present tense. Look at the. At a situation, the gentryification. When people move in, they change the tax base so people cant faye new taxes so they have to leave their community that theyve been a part of for generations. And then people that i was so used to seeing in the streets, at the grocery store, where you been . And they say i couldnt afford my house anymore. Some neighborhoods are currently seeing up to 300 increases in property value. Many long time residents cant afford the taxes that come with this increase so theyre forced to sell and move. Just another way that lower income people get pushed out of neighborhoods theyve lived in for generations. So if i give you the magic reparation wand and you can wave it and make it all happen, what do you do in. Build my community more. I would love to have more mom and pop. It is like you want reparations to repair the black communities to where they were. Every black nablgd had its own down section with black owned business thats served the community. This is conversation version of a new orleans jazz jam session. People come and go, the conversation changes but the music keeps going. When black folk had communities and they were thriving, policies and programs were implemented so that was destroyed. So our come possibly of it has to include policies and procedures and equitable or fair treatment. In order to get tom, everybody has to sit at the table. Black, white, yellow, brown, woman, man is that a chair being pulled out . When you put that together, everybody there, black people, white people. Do we have to put the orange guy at the table . For me he has to be there. Thats why we have the space. So we can discuss that. I would invest toward eliminating the Current School system that has 100 Charter Schools. All the Public Schools are Charter Schools . Every last one of them and thats by design. Who lous Recovery School district, r. S. D. , was created after Hurricane Katrina and tasked across the state. Their solution, close down every Traditional Public School and replace them with public Charter Schools. Today, 100 of the new orleans Public School students to go Charter Schools and theyre often a long commute away from home. What in the name of john oliver is happening and the other weak know of not having neighborhood schools. Children get up at 5 30, 6 00 in the morning, to be at the bus stop to get to school that starts at 8 00. If the butt doesnt pick them up, the parent has to find a way to get them to school. If they dont, theyve been displaced out of the education process. As a child, i walked to school. I passed all the neighborhood businesses. The Corner Grocery stores, the barber shop, the pharmacy, all of these places were owned and operated by people that looked like me. So my role models for entrepreneurship was rooted right there in my own community. Children dont have a sense of place anymore. Believe me, we would all be in a better place. Move the white house to a community black center. Mama jenning 2020. I should be have to tell you who this is. Branford is a grammy Award Winning jazz musician. His family is new orleans royalty. No matter how successful they get, they always come back to new orleans. When katrina hit, he and other musicians didnt wait. They saw the ninth ward under water and got to work. Harry connick and i got together with habitat for humanity and decided to use this particular neighborhood to build a lot of homes. Its going to be about 70 houses. About ten elder friendly duplex apartments. We use it as a home for musicians. It is hard to get a house when you are living in the gig economy. By gig economy, he means the old school gig economy. Musicians playing gigs. The heart of the village is the central for music. Im proud that the school serves the community. Everybody. Hes one kid in there with down syndrome. And i have an autistic brother so it is great that there is a place they can go. A place for the community. Thats beautiful. And were not trying to train musicians here. Were trying to use the discipline of music to help these kids get a grasp on understanding general concepts to succeed in whatever they want to do. He also has diy approach to reparations. We can spent our time protesting the law or work to nullify the law. All of these states are fearful of minority votes now. Shutting down polling stations and creating all these onerous situations. This goes back to what me and nicole were talking about. When black folks were enslaved, we werent allowed to vote. As soon as we were not enslaved, the United States stopped us from voting from literacy tests to gutting the Voting Rights act in 2013 and more. They realize in the north carolina, the majority of black citizens vote after church on sundays. So they made, first it was, well, early voting except on sundays. Theyre trying to win, man. Theyre 68 to death. You said you believe in act. Instead of spending time talking about maybe thinking about the reparations thing, just get out and do something. I believe in that. Bravo encore encore what else did we clear . Because were here to safely serve you with new procedures that exceed cdc guidelines and value your time. Visionworks. See the difference. Looking to repair dry, damaged hair without weighing it down . Try pantene daily moisture renewal conditioner. Its colorsafe formula uses smart conditioners to microtarget damage helping to repair hair without weighing it down. Try pantene. We see you. Looking out. For all of us. And though you may have lost sight of your own wellbeing, aetna never did. Were always here to help you focus on your health. Because its always, time for care. I couldnt think about talking about the current discussion of reparations without talking about the Group American descendants of slavery or ados. Much of what ive seen online has come from their. Ados isnt trying to have a kumbaya discussion. Can individual experience of racism in this country is not the same. I dont want to see another black face in the white house. Specially if youre not advocating for me. Theyre killing us anyway. And you want my vote . Oh, honey, no. I havent been this unsure in an interview since, well, there is been a lot. When we first started putting this show together, your name came up. When we talk about reparations, not all black people think the same. I always say, were not on the same thing about what we think about reparations. I think you have to decide who is in and who is out. You have to decide, who is included when you do reparations. That is the people who bear the cost. The descendants of child slaves. Shavory in this country. So there has to be some economic redistribution to american descendants of slavery. That got me in trouble. You have to decide. If youre somebody whose family emigrated from the caribbean in 1900, youve been here 120 years. On some level, youve experienced americas policies against american descendants of slaves even if your family did not participate. I feel like, your race has been determined by what the police think you are when they pull you over. Its not just about experiencing racism. It is about who built the country and who has been bottom casted. There wouldnt be an american without slaves and we are the descendants without slaves. It is reparations that is the american descendants of slavery. Theyve drawn a lot of criticism. Theyve been called out for online harass many by many people including msnbcs joe reid. And members of the group have been accused of publicly disclosing personal information. Ados is a very confrontational, we invited people on the show. If yvette is there, i cant be there. Oh and im like, wait, should i be there . There is a sense of, if people are not down with ados, especially black people, then they might come for you. Why not be down with us . Im laughing because it sounds like an offer you cant refuse. Its not like were a radical group. It is not just reparations. Why wouldnt you be down with us . It includes being antiimmigrant. I get it. Thats not something youve heard before. Weve seen immigration studies. They say immigrants dont mack american employees. Then you will see one and it will say except for those people who dont have degrees and it will say a lot of those people are black men. Unskilled. Well, theyll couldnt seed that it does impact. The only thing weve said is we have to get serious about what this country should look like, how it should impact communities. Which is our community. Black men is our community. So we have said that you have to have a serious conversation about that. You cant just say i want open borders and everybody gets to come. Countries have borders. It is just what it is. You have to have an adult conversation about that. What is ados plan or outlook for recommend ragss in. First we have to rewrite hr 40 anding who with it money. Starting in 1989, congressman john coniers junior would reintroduce legislation seeking to establish a commission to study reparations. After he left dog congress, representative Sheila Jackson lee took over saying, can we talk about reparations . So far the answer from america has been, no. You can come one a bill for everything else. Nobody has any trouble talking about how many billions for medicare for all. So you have to come to me with the same plans you come to everybody else with. With a budget. I think this Election Year is a good way to hold candidates accountable. A lot of the critique has been, ados is telling black people not to vote. If black people dont vote, we end up with four more years of trump. If everybody has to live with it another four years because we dont come out in drove whos wont do anything specifically for us, thats not our fault. Trump is not my reparations. We havent encouraged anybody to stay the a home but we have encouraged vote the down ballot. The top of the ticket gets no love unless you come to us and say we have a reparations plan which includes financial outlays of money. We have a budget attached to this. Thats what were pushing for. Looks like they picked the wrong getaway driver. Theyre going to be paying for this for a long time. They will, but with accident forgiveness allstate wont raise your rates just because of an accident, even if its your fault. Cut sonny. Was that good . Line the desert never lies. Isnt that what i said . No you were talking about allstate and insurance. I just. When i. Lets try again. Everybody back to one. Accident forgiveness from allstate. Click or call for a quote today. Olays new serum is so powerful, won. Accident forgiveness from allstate. It renews skin better than 300, 500, even 600 serums. Pretty amazing. Olay. Face anything. I felt i couldnt be at my. Best for my family. In only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. I faced reminders of my hep c every day. I worried about my hep c. But in only 8 weeks with mavyret. I was cured. Mavyret is the only 8week cure for all types of hep c. Before starting mavyret your doctor will test. If youve had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant,. Other liver problems, hiv1, or other medical conditions,. And all medicines you take. Dont take mavyret with atazanavir. Or rifampin, or if youve had certain liver problems. If youve had or have serious liver problems other than hep c, theres a rare chance they may worsen. Signs of serious liver problems may include yellowing of the skin, abdominal pain or swelling, confusion, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. Tell your doctor if you develop symptoms of liver disease. Common side effects include headache and tiredness. With hep c behind me, i feel free. Fearless. Because i am cured. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. Do i use a toothpaste that or one thats good for my teeth . Your medicine, now i dont have to choose. Crest 3d white. It removes up to 95 of surface stains. And strengthens enamel. From the number one toothpaste brand in america. Crest. I know some of you are sitting at home going, why would we do reparations slow down. Yes, we have. After world war ii, congress came one the indian claims commission. Its goal was to pay exhibition to federally recognized tribes whose lands had been taken by the u. S. Government. According to the new york times, the government paid out about 1. 3 billion. That came to less than 1,000 for each indigenous person. Not good. In 2015 the city of chicago gave 5. 5 million in what it called reparations to 57 people. Most of them black. Who had been victims and tortured by the Chicago Police department. In 1990 japanese americans for internment camps in world war ii for no good reason were awarded 20,000 each in reparations. More than 80,000 people clald them for a total of 1. 6 billion. So my awkward question is, if formerly interned africanamericans got that, how much should black folks get for 1619 until right now in this episode is about reparations and the u. S. debt to africanamericans. I need somebody who can speak to hard cold facts. Can also talk about systemic oppression. Maybe even come up with a culture that has dealt with that. I said we need a german. We have our baggage. Reporter Thomas Kramer is a professor of Public Policy at the university of couldnt could not. He investigates the psychology of race. I was always interested about Race Relations and racial attitudes, merely because of growing up in germany and learning about the holocaust in every school subject. What kind of payments were Holocaust Survivors given . The reparations between west germany and israel had multiple components. Some were to the state of israel for rehousing refugees after the war. And it was also helping the israeli economy to get restarted. Germany would pass reparations to individual survivors of the holocaust. It was a symbol that germany meant what it was saying. That it was trying to change its ways. Even though only symbolically because no pension can make up for your entire family being wiped out and your own suffering. With all that knowledge, he has a pretty different view of American History than most White Americans. When i first came to the United States, i immediately felt responsible for slavery as well as a White American for the simple reason that slave labor laid the groundwork for the Great American economic successful and i benefit from that success. Okay. Youve heard a lot of talk so far. Ultimately, reparations is about a number. How much money does the United States of america owe black folks . Sit down. Its a big number. Using the closest i could finds to an estimate, what a slave would have charged at the time for one hour of work. Thats like 11 cents an hour. Some crazy talking about minimum wages. He then firgds out how many hours all africanamericans, men, women, and yes, children, worked in the United States until 1865 when slavery was officially abolished. He multipled the time they worked by 11 cents an hour and then a xounling Interest Rate of 3 per year to make up for inflation. You get a whopping number. 19 trillion. Roughly the size of one years worth of the u. S. Gdp. A huge number. And very conservative. Its a big number. But remember, that just gets us to the end of slavery. Reparations is also about all the awful things the u. S. Did to black folks after slavery. While this is a huge sounding number, it is the time of huge number the United States deals in. And the United States has actually already given reparations for slavery. Yep when sleiavery was abolished america paid like 300 per slave. Im sure that was a substantial amount of money at the time. And it just boggles the mind that was actually done. We actually paid up. Our slavery reparations went to the owners. Hold on while i scream into a pillow. The Fire Department has been called to rescue an American Flag that has fallen at a school here in new orleans. There is some sort of metaphor or some sort of fork tale emb embedded in there. Im not sure what it is. Actually out of respect for kaepernick, i should. United shades of america, brought to you by voltaren, the joy of movement. Not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. And certainly not arthritis. New voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. And it can help you too. Feel the joy of movement with voltaren. Plan matters more than ever. Unitedhealthcare Medicare Advantage plans have so much to take advantage of. See a doctor from the comfort and safety of home with zero copay. Call today to get more of the care you need. With zero copay. I cant wiat to share at ts big 5g news. shouting through the glass at t has nationwide 5g . Yup and thats faster . Faster, yea but is it reliable . Ah huh and secure you should consider making a big deal about it bigger . I said bigger oh, bigbigger deal bigger than what im doing . Its not complicated. A 5g Network Needs a 5g device. Now everyone including existing customers can get a free Samsung Galaxy note20 after tradein. Youve been avoiding. Like people. And pants. Ings but dont avoid taking care of your eyes, because were here to safely serve you with new procedures that exceed cdc guidelines and value your time. Visionworks. See the difference. Webut you cant lose sight of your own wellbeing especially if you have a serious chronic medical condition. At aetna, were always here to help you focus on your health. Because its always time for care. In 1838, 272 enslaved africans were sold by the jess wits from plantations in maryland in order to save Georgetown University from financial ruin. Today im visiting a descendant of the 272 enslaved africans sold to free georgetown. She regularly hosts gathering at her house to foster connections between the extended family. Hi. Hi, sheryl. Nice to meet you. Im not even in yet. This is our cousin. The man of the house. And our cousin peaches. Okay, okay. We got two more cousins over here. Hate to interrupt. Nice to meet you. Were going to cook some grits in the thing. I hope youre hungry. I am. I am. So theyre cheese grits. Im in heaven. And its heart healthy, right . Saturdays dont count. So thank you guys for coming. Yall want to say a little grace . Father, we come to you with heads bowed and hearts humbled, thank you for this fellowship lord, for allowing us to come together in jesus. Amen. Okay. Karen, this looks like you put your foot in it. I put both feet in it. Who doesnt know . Do you keep up with him . Well, yeah. Because weve been best friends since 71. So you never met until today . Right. Its our first time. So nobody here knows each other. No. We all know karen. Okay. If that helps. Well, i know karen because i met her about ten minutes ago. So we all in the same spot. I believe that probably everybody in the room here has some kind of connection. These family trees are pretty naughty. Theyre tangled roots, you know. Because the descendants of those ancestors run deep in louisiana and some of the cousins in maryland didnt know anything about the migration, forced migration to louisiana. And they started doing dna tests. Sheryl is from maryland. Wasnt it you who said you saw this group of people you were related to in louisiana and you didnt know how or why . Exactly. When i had the dna done, i had the dots in d. C. , maryland and virginia. I got that. I understood that. But then there were dots here in louisiana. I was like, well, how did they get down there. And then when they made the connection to Georgetown University and how all that took place because i had gone to Georgetown University and had i known sitting in those classrooms the connection and that the doors were still open because my relatives had been sold and it was just surreal. Im going to always feel some kind of way about that. In 2019, an effort led by students at Georgetown University resulted in the School Commander raising 400,000 annually for the des descendents of the 272. They wanted to be included in the conversation about how this money should be used. I thought, well, we got to do something. We created the descendents declaration. We go there for their announcement. They do their really beautiful presentation. We must acknowledge that Georgetown University participated in the institution of slavery. [ applause ] and then they pass around the mic for q a. They shouldnt have done that. So instead of just sitting there and asking the questions, we all stood up and went to the front of the auditorium and i then i read the declaration. From the legacy of slavery. People thought we were part of the program, but we just kind of made ourselves a part of the program because thats our house. Yeah. You know . Thats our house. Thats the issue of black folks in this country. We got to make ourselves a part of the program. Again, even this group, which is bonded by a lot, has different ideas on what reparations should be. Am i Instagram Live right now . I dont do any social media at all. Shell give it to you, too. Okay. Thats funny. That is too funny. I think that a lot of time, money, interest and support needs to be put into the medical arena for black people. So we can have more doctors to go to moving forward. And thank you. There you go. The prison system is just modern day slavery. Like we seriously have to address that. Its like the whole system has to be reevaluated and redesigned for equity. I dont think we will ever be able to move forward until we can educate people why this is their responsibility even though it happened way before they existed. We will never be a successful country, really successful until we both can look at the problem and see that there is some damage that has been reparable. Maybe we can never repair. But at least we have to try. So what should reparations look like . The answer is yes, all of it. Better schools, better housing, better protections under the law. Gucchi grants, granting us the same privileges as your average white tourist on bourbon. You right now, if you are afraid of the conversation, dont be scared. Sit down. Its time to visit. Weve got a seat for you at the table, right next to the orange guy. That seat is always open. Snail mail, the president rails against mailin voting. It will end up being fraudulent. Raising fears about a free and fair election. Is the u. S. Postal service slowing its work down ahead of the votes . Ill speak to white house chief of staff mark meadows next. And losing ground . A republican senator talks about americas Coronavirus Response as Top Health Officials warn of a possible surge this fall. Is the country any