June 24, 2024 • 59 mins
This week on the Black Perspective: Our celebration of Black Music Month continues as Doug Davis highlights another influential Black artist. We delve into Atlanta Police Department's efforts to boost their ranks and discuss the urgent need for gun safety. Hear from a retired law enforcement leader about BIN’s first-ever public awareness campaign, Lock It and Store It, aimed at keeping guns out of the reach of children. Plus, a special interview with Texas US Congressman Al Green, who shares insights into the historical contributions of Black soldiers.
Join us for these compelling stories and more!
Listen now!
Join us for these compelling stories and more!
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The opinions, beliefs, and viewpointsexpressed in this commentary are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent thoseof b N and its founding partners and
employees. Now it's time to bringthe funk with Roland S. Martin.
We all know Donald Trump is aliar. He will lie anywhere, including
a black church. Over the weekend, he was at one eighty church in
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Detroit, and Man, all hedid was lie in this so called form
to reach African Americans when ninety fivepercent of the people sitting in that church
were white. Here is his firstlife. But we achieved the lowest African
American unemployment rate and the lowest AfricanAmerican poverty rate ever recorded, ever,
(00:49):
ever recorded during my four years.Well, that is a lie. Under
him, Black unemployment dropped a fivepoint three percent in August of twenty nineteen.
What under Biden Harris it went downto four point seven percent according to
the US Census Bureau. The lowestever Black poverty rate was seventeen point one
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percent. When was that August twentytwenty two. Donald Trump lied the next
lie, seeing the jobs were thebest in the history of our country for
African American for Black Americans. Thejobs were the best in the history of
our country. Other than that,why did I do not that much?
(01:33):
So why is it that forty onepercent of black owned businesses during COVID went
out of business? Folks demand justmakes up lies? Next lie man saying
we have to come back every year, one said, and I say,
respectfully, He said, they makeus feel like a bunch of beggars.
We have to come back to Washingtonevery year. I said, well,
(01:55):
we're going to take care of that. And I got them, actually more
money than they asked for by far, and we got a long term financing.
And he said. The only thingsaid is that I'll never see you
again. Probably I will never meetyou again. Just not true. Sixteen
billion dollars under Biden hairs, Folksstopped believing Donald Trump's lies. He is
not good for Black America. I'mRoland Martin on the Black Information Network.
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If I'm Bill Black with another betyou didn't know music? Fact. I
get this request all the time,Bill Black, can you freak another sample?
Absolutely so, through the magic ofsampling. Today, we're gonna take
one song and make two songs outof it. BUF funs. We need
some stink. We need some funk, we need to get lifted, So
we take it back to nineteen seventyfive and call on Casey in the Sunshine
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Band that help us out. Yeah, that's the funk we're looking for right
there. Huh. Yeah, soundsfamiliar. You've heard this somewhere before,
but you just can't figure it out. Right, Let's take that part,
slow it down. Yeah, yeah, and some vocals. You got some
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fire from bad Boy Records with thegroup on well called Only You. I'm
Bill Black and that's another betch ofdigital music. Pat on the Black Information
Network and now a special presentation ofThe Black Perspective Juneteenth Conversations Securing and Protecting
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Freedom. Hello, and welcome toThe Black Perspective. I'm Andrea Coleman and
from Mike Island. Coming up onthis week's edition of The Black Perspective,
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our celebration of Black Music Month continuesas Doug Davis takes us inside the career
and contributions of another black artist.We hear from members of the Atlanta Police
Department about the efforts to increase thenumber of officers they have on their force.
And we're losing four hundred children,you know, a year, and
that's very disturbing for me. Whywe should care about gun safety. We
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talk with the retired law enforcement leaderabout the importance and timing of Bion's first
ever public awareness campaign called Lockett andStore It. We're raising awareness about the
importance of keeping guns out of thereach of children to help save their lives.
But first and now, a specialpresentation of the Black perspective Juneteenth Conversations
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Securing and Protecting Freedom. We startwith an eloquent and poignant reminder of the
history of June tenth, the nationalholiday commemorates today in eighteen sixty five,
when enslaved black people in Texas learnedof their freedom. The notice came two
years after the signing of the EmancipationProclamation and the freeing of slaves elsewhere in
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the South. As we celebrate theholiday this year, Beyond received the special
privilege of speaking with Texas US CongressmanAl Green. He has represented the state's
ninth congressional district since being elected intwo thousand and four. In this interview
with B's Nicole Deal, Congressman Greengives a detailed account of this historic occasion
and sheds light on the contribution ofdozens of black soldiers who made it happen.
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Here's Nicole. You are listening tothe Black Information Network and we are
delighted to be on the line withUS Congressman Al Green from Houston's ninth Congressional
District. Such a pleasure and privilegeto have you join us today, Congressman,
as we talk about the meaning ofJune teenth. Welcome, well,
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thank you very much. I'm lookingforward to the interview. June tenth is
a very significant day in the livesof our people. We know that the
Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order thatwas issued by then President Abraham Lincoln in
eighteen sixty three. But we alsoknow that slaves here in Texas did not
know about their freedom until roughly twoyears later, on June nineteenth of eighteen
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sixty five. So with that beingsaid, I'd like to ask you what
does Juneteenth mean to you personally andthen also in a broader sense in terms
of black families and black communities.Well, thank you for the question.
Juneteenth is a very special day.My dear friend Al Edwards, whom I
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knew very well, was the fatherof Juneteenth. He brought this legislation before
the Texas House of Representatives when hewas a neophyte and managed to get it
past. It was a remarkable thingto have occurred when you're a neophyte in
the state House. As a result, Juneteenth became a state holiday. The
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very first in the country to recognizeJune teenth was the state of Texas.
This holiday is special because it isa celebration of freedom. And while the
slaves were not freed solely because ofthe Emancipation Proclamation, the thirteenth Amendment is
probably the actual piece of legislation thatfreed the enslaved people, but it was
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symbolic in the sense that it saidto people that their lives were going to
change. They didn't change immediately,and they didn't change to the extent that
they should have, but they didknow that there was something called freedom,
it was on the horizon, andthat it could make a difference in their
lives. To give you a bitof the details, General Gordon Branger came
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into Galveston, Texas on what wecall Juneteenth now of eighteen sixty five.
When General Gordon Granger arrived, hewas there and able to read General Order
number three. General Order number threewas a document that announced freedom but didn't
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bring with it things that people wouldneed to survive. People were literally freed
to the winds, the rains,the elements, or they could stay where
they were and work out some sortof arrangement with the person who had enslaved
them or the people who had enslaved, which was probably not one of the
things that people would want to dowho have just been extricated from slavery.
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This opportunity was made possible by themen and people who were in the twenty
fifth Army Corps. These were athousand black slaves who had been freed and
were now a part of the military, the Army Corps that was there to
liberate the people in Galveston, andthey did it. They literally ran the
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Confederates all the way to the border. They made it possible for General boarding
Ranger to have this June teenth readingof the General Order number three, Fifth
Army Corps. They have not beenproperly recognized. We recognize General Gordon Granger
for what he did, and Irespect him for what he did and appreciate
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what he did. But the fightthat took place occurred before the reading of
General Order number three and that fightwas by primarily black persons who were enslaved
at one time and had been freeto join the Union Army. That part
of the history has to be appreciatedand celebrated as well. Excellent point,
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Thank you so much. What areyou some of your thoughts on the black
life experience in the state of Texasright now? The state of Texas has
had persons who have come forth withthe notion that slavery was involuntary relocation.
Hardly the case. People were stolenfrom their homes, stolen from their land,
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kidnapped, placed on ships and stackedlogs like cargo. Many of them
did not survive the trip, andthose that did were not always in the
best of health whilst they reached theseshores. But it was just a horrific
circumstance, and to try to minimizeit and make it seem as though the
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persons who were enslaved acquired skills thatthey might be able to use later in
life, knowing that they would onlybe able to use those skills as persons
who were enslaved and working for aslave master. People were raped, they
were murdered, they were whipped,they were separated from their families. It
was a crime against humanity, probablyone of the greatest crimes ever against humanity.
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There is nothing like it ever beforeor after, just as there's nothing
like the Holocaust before or after.These are two horrific crimes against humanity.
There are other crimes against humanity,the crimes that were committed against the indigenous
population in this country, the AboriginalAmericans, but slavery is somewhat unique in
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that it lasted for three hundred andforty six years. We're talking about centuries
of slavery in this country, andwe need to understand why the Africans were
brought to this country and enslave.They were brought here to serve a purpose.
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They were to be a permanent,identifiable, subservient cast of people,
not class. A class is asocioeconomic circumstance. You can move in and
out of a class. But youwere born into slavery, babies were enslaved.
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You would live your life as aslave, and you would die enslave.
Three centuries plus nearly another half century. That is something that started on
August twentieth of sixteen nineteen, whenthe White Lion a ship landed in Point
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Comfort near what we now call NorfolkVirginia, and it had the first twenty
persons of African ancestry on board,and they were introduced into slavery into the
colonies. This, my friends,was a seminal moment in time that has
impacted the rest of time in thiscountry. From that second forward, from
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that sentilla of a second forward,things changed, and they changed to the
extent that some people enjoyed having theservices of people who were enslaved. It
meant something to them to own ofthe people and to treat them as they
desired. In fact, one ofthe chief justices of the Supreme Court,
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in Dreaded Scott, Chief Justice Tanny, indicated that the slaves had no rights,
that a white man had the respect. I'm paraphrasing, but that's the
essence of his statement. So wehad no rights. We were enslaved,
and as a result of that peopleacquired great wealth. These enslaved people were
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the economic foundational mothers and fathers ofthe country. They built the roads,
the bridges, they planted, thecrops they harvested, They fed the nation.
They built the actual capital where Iwork in Washington, d c.
Their hands were involved in the buildingof the White House. They were the
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economic foundational mothers and fathers of thecountry. The greatness of America was achieved
with the enslavement of more than tenmillion people of African ancestry, and we
should not forget that. Which comesback to Texas. Texas would have us
not have this be any part ofthe school education that persons would receive.
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They don't want it to be apart of the public education. If it's
going to be done, they wouldhave us do it in our homes,
or in our places of worship perhaps, or in some other places in society,
in our social clubs maybe. Butthey don't want to taught in the
schools. They are trying as bestas they can to prevent what I just
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said from ever being uttered in apublic school setting. The theory appears to
be that they don't want children whoare not of African ancestry to somehow feel
that they're being demeaned by the truthbeing told. But they overlook how the
children of African ancestry are being treatedwhen the truth is not told to them
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about their ancestors. And the conditionthat have haunted Africans in this country from
our first arrival still haunts us tothis day. It's a very sad thing
to know that you live in sucha state, but it's a wonderful thing
to know that I have the freedomof speech to voice my opinion as I'm
doing now. I have the rightto organize and get people to vote so
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that we can change things. AndI have the right to let people know
that notwithstanding all of the things thathave happened, we can still make a
difference in our lives. We butonly have to work harder at which we
shouldn't have to do. But we'llhave to work harder, and we'll have
to try harder, and we willdo better. Absolutely, Wow, so
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much sat there. I could justpiggyback on so much there, but just
absolutely riveting, powerful, and Ithink the message really hit home about rolling
back the cloth. That kind ofleads me into my next question. Do
you think I think that life forblacks in the state of Texas right now?
How do you think that the experiencesthat blacks are having today in Texas
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compare with blacks who lived here inprevious eras. Well, things are better
than previous eras because obviously people wereenslaved in the state of Texas. Texas
is the only state in the Unionto seceed twice because they didn't want to
give up slavery. Texas was apart of Mexico, and the government there
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said, Texas, you've got togive up this notion that you're going to
enslave people. Texas said, no, We'll keep our slaves and we'll leave
Mexico, and they did. Andthen in the United States, Texas decided
that it would secede from the Unionbecause it desired to maintain the institution of
slavery. Things have changed, there'sno question. But now the question is
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this, do we compare ourselves solelyto the condition that we had that was
horrific, or do we want tocompare ourselves to current circumstances that others enjoy
that we don't enjoy. I thinkthat we ought to aspire to have equality
of opportunity, just as others havegreat opportunities. I think that people of
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African ancestry should have those same opportunities, not only here in Texas, but
across the country. I'll give youa very good example of what I speak.
We have had many persons to testifyabout how they would go to various
institutions to try to acquire something andhave persons who were of different hues to
go, different genders to go,and how people of color were treated differently,
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how people of color would have topay more for loans even if they
were more qualified, More qualified,pay more for your loan, More qualified
pay more points, more qualified havea higher interest rate. My point is,
though, that we have empirical evidenceto show that when it comes to
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just banking, African Americans are nottreated the same as some others in our
society, and Texas is no exceptionwhen it comes to this. That has
to change, and that is achange across the country, as I've indicated,
and we have a bill that wepassed in the House that would deal
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with this. I think that ifyou rob a person of a loan that
they're qualified to have, I thinkyou've committed a crime. And we literally
passed a bill penalizing persons to dothis, a penal law, and this
law indicated that if you were qualifiedfor your loan and you didn't get it,
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and the person did it because ofyour color, your race, then
you should be able to prosecute thatperson. This is the way you will
end in vidious discrimination. I don'twant to manage it. I applaud those
who want to manage it to dothat. I want to end it.
And the way they end it isto make it a crime to discriminate against
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a person intentionally when that discrimination robsa person of a benefit the person would
be entitled to otherwise. In thearea of healthcare, the people in this
state who have the least amount ofhealth care are people of color, and
these persons could do a lot betterif Texas would but only take money from
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the federal government that would be utilizedfor Medicaid. The federal government offers Texas
one hundred billion dollars, not million, one hundred billion dollars for Medicaid,
and Texas turned the money down,would not take it to help poor people.
Poor people percentage wise, most ofwhom in this state are persons of
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color percentage wise. So when itcomes to healthcare, people of color suffer
more. But this is not tosay that Anglos don't suffer, and may
suffer in greater numbers. That's becausethey are greater numbers in the state of
Texas. But people of color aresuffering when it comes to this whole notion
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of having good health care. Whenit comes to the judicial system. In
Texas, it is better to berich and guilty than poor, and a
person of color who's innocent, innocentperson of color is more likely to be
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found guilty than a rich guilty personin the state of Texas, and probably
same way in most states in thiscountry. So things have changed, but
there is still much change to takeplace, and we have to continue to
fight for the change. Not fightin terms of being engaging in fisticoffs,
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but fight in terms of taking politicalstands for things that some people would say
are just not doable, for example, making it a crime to rob a
person of a loan that they're entitledto have. Texas has come a long
way, but Texas still has along way to go. Texas Congressman Al
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Green, thank you so much foryour time today and for all of your
insight on the connective history behind theJuneteenth Holiday. Please come back and see
us again, real, real soon, once again. Today's special guest has
been Al Green, Congressional member fromthe City of Houston's ninth District. I'm
Nicole Deal and you're listening to ourspecial Juneteenth edition of The Black Perspective.
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Back to you. Thank you,Nicole Our special reports honoring Juneteenth will continue
next Sunday, when Amber Payton talksto black leaders outside the state of Texas
about securing and protecting freedom from anational perspective. Well June is also Black
Music Mouth, and as we continueto spotlight black artists who have influenced the
music scene in the US and elsewhere. BIS Doug Davis is back with a
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Grammy winning independent R and B artistwhose music many of us know and love.
This is Doug Davis, and it'sa pleasure for me to have on
this show. One of my favoritenational recording artists, PK Kid PJ Morton.
He's a Grammy winning singer, songwriter, and musician. His new book
and title, Saturday Night Sunday Morning, is out. He also has a
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new album that's out. His newsingle entitled Please Be Good, is available
at all streaming outlets. Welcome tothe show, PJ. So, brother,
what inspired you to write your memoirSaturday Night Sunday Morning. I think
I have in ninety yes, sowhy really think it was partly because of
how unique my life is and partlybecause of how much I think people can
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relate to it. I think it'sunique in the sense that, you know,
I've managed to exist in all ofthese different worlds. I mean a
preacher's kid, grew up a preacher'skid, started off, you know,
writing gospel music for artists, butthen as an artist, became a soul
and R and B artist, youknow, signed the Little Wayne at one
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time, then joined Maroon five,you know, and a pop band.
So I think my whole life hasbeen a little bit of Saturday night,
a little bit of Sunday morning.But but but I've stayed true to myself
and all of that and managed tofind some success here more recently, you
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know, five Grammy Awards in thelast seven years and you know, a
lot and being able to do thatindependently. So I think for me,
it was time to tell my storyand kind of give people an insight on
how I got here. Yeah,how was your move over to secular received
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by your family? Have such arich, you know, musical family when
it comes to gospel music, Howwas that received? And I'm sure are
you going to that in the book. Oh yeah, for sure. I
mean I didn't, thankfully. Asan artist, I never moved over,
you know, I never I startedoff with an R and B record,
you know, you know, soI was always there. But I think
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as a songwriter and just as apreacher's kid, me deciding not to do
gospel music was met with some metwith a lot of a lot of flack,
you know, initially from my family, but then from from others,
you know, from from members ofthe church or members that followed my father.
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So it was it was quite abit a sacrifice initially because honestly,
the way my father was known,going to gospel right would have been easier
for me, you know, Icould have found easier success in that,
but it just wasn't my purpose andit didn't feel genuine to me, and
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so it was quite it was quitechallenging initially, and but I just kept
fighting and creating these spaces. SoI love to see now how you know,
some churches will call me and askme to do their their singles night,
you know, or or their youknow, their conference for couples.
It's evolved since since I started,for sure. Let's talk about that evolution.
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How did your upbringing in a familyof pastors and gospel artists influence uh
this musical journey that you're expressing inthis book. Well, I think just
ultimately for me, like even asI do soul music, I think soul
music is is kind of like thecorner of gospel music and the spirituality that
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that brings and the feeling you getfrom that, and you know, and
the soul side is the lyrics.You know, may may may speak about
something other than God, but Ithink it's the same space, you know,
I think it comes from the sameplace. So for me, I
think that spirituality and what would Iconnect to in gospel music. That's one
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of the requirements, you know,in gospel music is that you got to
be able to feel it. SoI take that with me in whatever I
do, you know, trying toconnect in a real way. Right when
you were growing up, I knowa few you know, pks, and
they used to tell me they wouldhave to sneak, you know, to
listen to certain artists, you know, because it wasn't allowed in the household.
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How was that for you? Anddo you, you know, share
some of those moments in this book? Yeah, I do. I go
into all of that because thankfully itwasn't as strict, so it wasn't that
I couldn't listen to it at all, but I did get in trouble for
listening to some some rap music andsome rap music early on, my dad
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broke my CD and threw it away. That's in the book. But but
but it was really Sundays. Weweren't allowed to listen to secular music on
Sundays, and so you know,sometimes sometimes when you can't do something,
that's when you want to do itthe most, you know, Right,
So I probably will want to listento my records, you know, on
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Sundays. But but yeah, thatwas that was that was a sacred day
and we only listened to gospel musicand less, like you said, I
would have to go sneak and listento my listen to my music. Yeah,
what kind of obstacles did you facewhile developing your independent sound and launching
Morton Records? And do you gointo some of those details. Yeah,
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A big part of the book isreally about my independence and trusting myself,
trusting my gut, trusting my instincts, because I mean, for me,
you know, you talk about independencenow and it's maybe more of a popular
subject, you know, or youknow, people talking about owning masters now
and stuff that's like more of apopular thing. But for me, it
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just was out of necessity. Icouldn't get signed to a major label.
Nobody saw my potential and so Iwas forced to try to figure it out
myself. So I started learning everypart of the business, you know,
from the from the marketing to theto the sales, to the radio how
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that worked, and the touring.And you know, I was, you
know, putting my band on afifteen passenger and you know, driving from
city to city. So I builtit brick by brick, and that was
out of necessity. You know,it's because I couldn't get looked at by
a major. But I really stuckto who I was. Being independent allowed
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me to think outside of the boxreally and created different space for myself,
for my sound, and then startto develop a following, you know,
with my touring, and touring hasbeen has been like the lifeline for us
more than anything. Absolutely play live, Yeah. Tell us about your experience
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when you visited Africa and your newalbum which you've recorded there, and by
the way, I love your firstsingle, please Be Good. You're saying
a whole lot in that song,and you collaborated with a lot of African
artists and musicians. Tell us aboutthat experience Did you plan to record the
album in Africa or was it justan epiphany? Yeah, so that was
the plan. No, the planwas to go to Africa and for thirty
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days and write a complete project.While I was there, I wanted to
really challenge myself and kind of youknow, ignite something, you know,
just looking for inspiration. And sowe went to four countries, going to
South Africa and went to Nigeria,Ghana, Egypt. And that was one
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of the first things that was alesson was how big Africa is. I'm
thinking, maybe I'm going from NewYork to Chicago or something, you know,
going from South Africa to Nigeria,it's like ten hours, you know.
So it was like that was thefirst awakening, like wait, it's
that far away. Within creating thereand connecting with with my people and some
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of the questions I got from peopleat home asking how Africa was going to
be. It was crazy, butit's not so crazy because of how Africa
has been shown to us. Butman, I found so much inspiration there.
And you know, I was onlygoing to a do an album,
but I made sure before I went, and my team allowed me to like
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deal with the culture as much aspossible, the food, the people,
the nightlife, to everything, andbecause I wanted to engulf myself and man,
it was way more than an album. It was life changing for me
and I just want to keep goingback. It's beyond the music for me
now, but just keep building andconnecting to Africa. I just think there's
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so much more to do with withall of us. I feel like,
well, way more connected than disconnected. You know, just gotta gotta put
it together. And you can hearit in your first single. I mean
it touches my spirit when I hearit. Yeah, from the music to
the lyrics, just the whole vibe. I did please be good in Nigeria
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with this with this young producer namedPete Prime, and that's what it was.
I felt. I felt it assoon as he played the track.
And because I was there, Ionly had thirty days. You just have
to write from instincts. So Iwas just writing, and like you said,
I said a lot in there,but I didn't know what I was
saying really, you know, likeI was letting my kind of like my
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spirit speak And now that I listento it, I get it. But
in that moment, it was justlike just create, you know, and
so I'm glad that it went thatway. That's how I was wanting it
to go, was just to letit take over. I'm saying it in
the song. You know, Idon't need to be in control. I
just want to let go. Pleasebe good. I'm asking Africa to please
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be good to me, you know, in this process, and my brain,
the police, be good and mysoul. So yeah, man,
it was a life changing trip forsure. But the PJ my time is
up. Man. Thank you forsharing some time with us. Your new
book Saturday Night Sunday Morning is out, as well as your new album Cape
Down to Cairo. This is DougDavis. You're listening to the Black Information
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Network. Many police forces across thecountry are looking to bring on more officers.
The Atlanta Police Department is one ofthem. The department is holding a
hiring event next week and is encouraginganyone interested in joining their team to apply.
Members of APD. You spoke withBI in several days ago about the
care real opportunities available to qualified candidates. So thank you very much for joining
(33:05):
us. Thank you for having us. Yeah, and if you will,
please share a little bit about eachof you of what you do. How
long you've been on the Atlanta Policeto force in a little bit about your
career history, Officer Africa Massie,I have been on the department for nine
years. I'm originally from Orlando,Florida. I started my career over in
Zone six, that's the East Atlantaarea. I spent two years there and
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then I went to the APEX unit. I was there for five years and
I'm also a hostage negotiator. I'vebeen on that team for the past three
years and now I am here atbackground and recruitment. Very good, Officer
of Bouquete, what about you?My name is Officer Bouquette. I'm originally
from four Latta at, Florida.I served the City of Atlanta for eight
years. I've been in Zone forSouthwest Atlanta area. Very good. And
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Lieutenant Young, what about you?Hi there, I am Lieutenant Toya Young.
I'm originally from Chicago. So Iwas recruited out of Chicago by the
police department at a recruitment event,and so now I'm here trying to do
the same thing. But I've beenon about eighteen years now. I started
off as a patrol officer in Zonesix. After doing that for a few
years, I made investigator. ThenI went to the domestic violence unit.
(34:14):
From the domestic violence unit, Iwent to Crimes against Children, so I
did investigations on sexual assault victims withchildren. From there, I made sergeant,
went over to Zone two. Fromthere, I made lieutenant, went
out to Zone four. I wasin Zone four for a little bit and
then I was on an order tocome here to background recruitment. And I
have been here for the last twoyears and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
(34:37):
That's wonderful. I mean, yourcareer really kind of highlights the opportunities,
the career opportunities that are available foranyone who joins the force. Absolutely
absolutely, I've been very fortunate.Wow. So what true you to law
enforcement? So I have a degreein psychology with a heavy background in criminology,
and it made me very interested inbecoming police officers. So here I
(35:00):
am offer super cat. I'll givecredit to my university. When I went
there for football, it was timefor me to pick my major, and
I picked criminology and I was Istuck with it ever since. And what
university is at Mayor Mack College inBoston, very good, and Lieutenant Young,
what about you. I came onwith an associate's degree in criminal justice
(35:20):
when I got here, then thedepartment offered to send me back to school
and paid for my bachelor's degree.So I continued with criminal justice and that
aspect as well. But if Ileave it up to my mother to say
why I became a police officer,she would say it's because I'm bossy,
But in all honesty, it's andit sounds cliche, but I have a
huge heart and seeing people thrive andassisting people in situations where it seems like
(35:46):
no one else can help them.Being that person that steps saying to be
able to help them organize that situation. It feels good at the end of
the day. So you're here threeoutstanding and highly professional looking officers who are
all black, two women, onemale. How important is diversity and representation
(36:07):
on the Atlanta Police Force. Ithink it's very important. I think it's
important for us to look like thecommunity that we serve. Me in particular,
I love when we have a lotof female applicants because I think that
women bring a different perspective to policingand that we bring a different level of
(36:28):
safety or comfort to some of thecommunity members out there who maybe don't feel
as comfortable with male officers, notfor any particular reason outside of just some
of the situations they went through werevery unfortunate, and so I think that
we definitely bring a different aspect topolicing. That's very important. You know,
when most of us think about policeofficers, we're seeing you guys really
(36:52):
on the front lines of defending ourcommunities against crime. It looks very challenging,
it looks dangerous, it looks veryrisky. So talk a little bit
about the demand to being a policeofficer and how you prepare for that.
How do you handle that? Forme, I think I just go into
every situation wanted to treat everybody likethey were my family, wanted to treat
(37:13):
everybody like I would want my familyto be treated, and I think that
has given me some positive outcomes.I agree with MASKI you say, I'll
stick with that. I would saythat the police Academy actually prepared me.
When I came on, I wastwenty three years old, so I was
very young. But going through thepolice Academy, they put you through all
different types of scenarios to prepare youfor what's real life on the streets,
(37:37):
and then field training. Field trainingis where you get after you finish your
time in the academy. Then youhave time on the streets with an officer
to see exactly what it is dayto day that you're going to be handling.
And the training that the Police Apartmentprovides, the Atlanta Police Apartment provides
is exceptional. So how do youmaintain a healthy work life balance because this
(37:59):
really is a high stress job.It is a high stress job, but
it's also very rewarding. For me. I like to travel and I also
do yoga, I like to workout. Got to have different hobbies,
yes, most definitely have to havedifferent hobbies. For me. My children
are my hobby, so they're intoall type of sports. So when once
I'm off, then I'm playing mommyand from basketball practice the football practice.
(38:21):
But I love traveling and I alsolove reading. So those are my ways
to stress from the job. That'sreally good. So let's talk about this
hiring event that the APD has comingup. If you can tell us a
little bit about it and how peoplecan learn more. So our event it
is at Atlanta Public Safety Headquarters,which is two twenty six Peachtree Street,
(38:42):
Southwest. It's from eight am totwo pm. We would like you to
come dress professionally because you're going tobe interviewed. If you go to our
hiring page join Atlanta PD dot org, there is a special link for our
Atlanta June twenty ninth event. Youclick on that link to start the process.
Within that you'll be able to fillout your pre questionnaire. From that
questionnaire, you'll get correspondence back fromthe police Department. So you just need
(39:07):
to look out for you in youremails for a correspondence from Guardian Alliance asking
you to upload documents and fill outyour PHQ. The PHQ is an actual
application that we use to go throughthe hiring process. We need that filled
out one hundred percent and come preparedat eight am on Saturday, June twenty
ninth, and we'll be able togive you all of your assessments that day
(39:29):
and offer you a conditional offer ofemployment. Now what's a conditional letter?
So a conditional offer would be usgiving you a letter saying that if you've
passed all of your assessments, thenyou're more than likely to get a final
offer of employment. So you willcome to our hiring event and you'll take
a written psychological test, You'll meetwith our on site psychologists, we will
(39:52):
fingerprint you, and then at thatpoint we give you the conditional offer.
If you've passed all of those assessments, we'll give you a condition offer to
go and take your medical assessment.That's incredible. So now that process again
starts before you you even arrive.You have to go to that website and
first apply, and then the responsewill let you know if you have been
(40:14):
selected to attend the hiring event onthe twenty ninth. It's not correct.
Correct absolutely. Also, if youhave any questions in the interim, please
give us a call at four zerofour five, four six seven six five
zero. That's really good. Andwhat kind of salaries are we talking about?
The recruits start with the salary offive four seven one five and if
(40:36):
you are coming in as a transferor lateral, you could start anywhere between
five nine one eight zero or eightynine nine to two. That's really impressive.
So what are the qualifications to apply? To apply for Atlanta Police Department?
You must be a US citizen.You must be at least twenty and
a half years of age. Youmust have a high school diploma or a
GED. You must have a ballotdriver's license. And if you're military,
(41:00):
let's bring your DD two fourteen.And how why does your search or who
can apply? Is it just formetro Atlanta residents or are we talking about
people across the country. We don'tjust stay in Atlanta. We go out
of state. We travel everywhere.Our last recruiting event was New York and
before that we went to Miami.So we have an upcoming event after our
(41:22):
event, it would be in Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, So look out
for that. Once a person goesto the website, they apply, they
are accepted, they're invited to cometo the June twenty ninth event. They
go through all of that, theyget their conditional offer. They then are
accepted on the force. What happensafter that? What does it look like
(41:43):
when you're just joining the Atlanta PoliceDepartment? What kind of training? And
I guess how rigorous are training dothose new officers face? So obviously you
have to come out the academy academysix months. And when you come out
the academy, you'll be going intoa field training. You'll be with a
for a training officer who's going towalk you through step by step what you
need to do and how to gobuy your business on the beat on the
(42:07):
streets, and then pretty much yougot a probation period where when you get
through that ninety day probation period,then we'll know you're confident enough to be
on your own and continue your journeybeing a police officer. Is it rigorous?
The academy is definitely rigorous. It'snot easy and it's not meant to
be easy because being a police officeris a tough job. You know,
you're facing dangers that most people don'tface on a day to day basis,
(42:30):
so they want you prepared and theymake sure that you're prepared for that.
What characteristics make for a good policeofficer. We like to go by our
core values, which is professionalism,integrity, courage and commitment. If you
possess those characteristics, you'll be agreat law enforcement officer. Officer Africa Massi,
(42:50):
Officer Minos Bouquette, Am I pronouncingthat correctly, ma'am. Yeah,
And Lieutenant Toya Young, we thankyou so much for joining us on the
Beyona in and we look forward toseeing how successful your event is. It
seems like you're well prepared, andthank you for your service. Thank you,
thank you for having us. Andjust a reminder, the application process
begins before you arrive at the event. You must first visit join Atlanta PD
(43:15):
dot org and complete and submit theforums posted under the tab labeled June twenty
ninth event. The Atlanta Police Departmentwill then let you know by email if
you qualify to attend the actual hiringevent next Saturday. Because gun safety starts
at home, lock it and StoreIt on the Black perspective well, the
(43:36):
Black Information Network has launched its firstpublic safety awareness campaign called locket and Store
It. Over the next three months, we will run special reports and features
explaining the importance of gun safety andpreventing unintentional shootings by children and teens,
which last year claimed the lives ofalmost four hundred children, many of them
(43:57):
black. The issue is a bigone in the black community. According to
the National Institute on Minority Health andHealth Disparities and twenty twenty, black children
made up to forty seven percent ofthe four thousand debts among all youth,
and approximately five Black youth between theages of one and nineteen die by firearms
every day. Since twenty twenty,firearm injuries have become the leading cause of
(44:22):
death for black youth. Brenda GossAndrews, immediate past president of the National
Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives,also known as Noble, and former deputy
police chief in Detroit, is amember of the bi IN Local Roundtable.
The Roundtable is a forum for businessand civic leaders from local communities across the
US to provide perspective and collaborate withbion's leadership team regarding the network's programming and
(44:46):
local engagement. Former Deputy police ChiefAndrews served as law enforcement advisor for the
Locket Instored campaign. She recently spokewith bi IN about why the issue of
gun safety is one we all needto take seriously. When did the issue
of unintentional shootings my children catch yourattention? Well, it was really by
(45:07):
happenstance or maybe divine intervention. I'mnot sure, but I was working on
a class paper for my doctor andI came across an article about unintentional shootings
from unsecured guns at home, andit pointed out that these shootings were happening
primarily and with minority children and homesof lower socioeconomic circumstances. So that right
(45:30):
there piqued my interests. And eventhough it wasn't part of my assignment,
I thought it was something that Iwould like to know a little bit more
about. So I started searching.I didn't really find any other articles,
so I started searching for news articles, and much to my surprise, there
was quite a few articles out thereabout accidental shootings with young children, I
(45:52):
mean young under ten years old,and that's what was stark for me.
And they were being killed at home, unsecured guns. They're killing themselves,
killing other siblings, other children thathappened to be by, and it was
quite prevalent. And also I talkedto colleagues across the country, some of
(46:13):
the police chiefs. I said,is this happening in your community or is
this just an anomaly? And theysaid, no, it's really happening.
I said, well, we don'thear much about it. So that's kind
of what got me started and beinginterested in this particular topic. Now,
as a law enforcement expert, whatabout the situation and the number of unintentional
shootings registered? Most with you?I'm speaking more from a law enforcement perspective,
(46:37):
something that we in the public maynot really understand. Well. I
think what was most startling is thatchildren as young as two and three years
old, we're getting a hold ofthese guns and shooting themselves, and I
was just wondering, how are theyable to do this, and why were
the guardians of these children being sonegligent. So well, what registered with
(47:00):
me is that this does not haveto happen. This is something that is
preventable. And as I dug intoit a little bit more, another thing
was that our young people are ourteens. We know suicides have gone up,
but most of the time they're gettingthese guns from home in mass shootings
like Sandy Hook and right here inmy metropolitan area, Oxford High School,
(47:22):
a student took a gun from homeand killed four of their classmates. So
all of that registered with me thatwe weren't really talking about it, we
weren't really hearing about it, andwe weren't hearing anything from the media.
And that was one of my majorconcerns is why aren't we hearing more reporting
on this incident? And it seemsto be happening all around our country.
(47:45):
So when you look at campaigns likethe one you started with Noble, which
is it starts at home, andthen the one that we're doing here the
Black Information Network Locket and store it. What's your hope as we work to
bring attention and raise awareness about thisissue. When I launched this campaign as
the president of Noble, national organizationBlack Law Enforcement Executives, I wanted a
(48:07):
campaign that was going to be meaningful, that was going to be sustainable,
something that was going to make achange or social change in our community and
be impactful. And I came upwith it starts at home. And a
lot of people say, well,why did you come up with that cliche?
Is it? Because if you thinkabout it, everything starts at home
(48:28):
our lives. Soon as we're born, it starts at home. Whether we
learn things, whether it's good,bad, or in different you know,
it actually starts at home. SoI said, I will pick this and
kind of resonate with people. Itbe something they can understand, and we
started the campaign. That was oneof my pillars, and I started working
with law enforcement agencies. We wereable to get gunlocks and do some free
(48:51):
events around the country with law enforcement, and you know, that was really
welcomed by my colleagues. They knewabout it, but it had not been
any organized campaign to deal with it. Certainly, fast forward now the last
few years, last year, we'rebeginning to hear more and more about people
picking this up and talking about gunsafety and safe gun storage. Are there
(49:14):
are laws there being passed? Andknow here in Michigan we passed a safe
gun Storage Act that has penalties attachedto it. So right now, I
think it's just a matter of awarenessthings that you're doing with your network,
that we're talking about it, andwe're letting the community know, and we're
letting people know about this and thatit is happening, and we're losing four
(49:35):
hundred children, you know, ayear, and that's very disturbing for me.
What is it about guns that capturesthe attention and interest of children,
I mean, especially extremely young oneswho don't understand the dangers of fire arms.
Well, I want to go allthe way back, because you know,
America was kind of built on violenceand guns, so we're unlike some
other countries that did not have thatfascination about guns and viol so our country
(50:01):
kind of glorified that. And ifyou think back, I know I can
think back when we were kids,we played cowboys and Indians or cops and
robbers, so, you know,we became fascinated with the gun. We
looked at cartoons that show but inthe cartoon it always showed you would shoot
(50:21):
them and then what would happen nextnext thing, you know, they were
standing back up. So children don'tunderstand, you know, the injury and
the death side of it. Youknow, becomes just kind of a game
and a fun and a fascination.And we as adults, we've allowed that
to kind of grow and fester.So I think especially young children, they
(50:43):
don't grasp that, and you know, those tender ages, it's kind of
hard for them to form the Idon't think their brains are in place where
they can really understand the consequences andthe effects and something. You have a
two or three year old, youknow, they have no idea. So
I think our culture built that.How receptive are gun owners to making certain
(51:04):
that their firearms are safe, thatthey are locked and stored and even unloaded
as they are putting them away andputting them out of the reach of children.
To be candidate and don't have anyresearch or data on this, I
think we do have some responsible gunowners out there, but they have politicized
this so much that the attention thatwe need to pay in terms of keeping
(51:30):
our children and our youth safe islost, you know, in that messaging
of politics and partisan politics, whenwe really should be concentrating on how we
can prevent this from happening. SoI would think there are some responsible gun
owners, but there are many outthere that are not, and therein lies
(51:52):
the problem, and therein lies thefour hundred children that we're seeing, you
know, being killed or harmed eachyear. When you hear of a child
or a person losing their life becauseof an unintentional shooting, what goes through
your mind? And I'm asking thaton a personal level, and then also
from your years and experience in lawenforcement. Two words preventable. This could
(52:15):
have been prevented, This did nothave to happen, and just anguish,
you know, just tragedy, becausewhen I hear about it, I take
it kind of personally. I don'tknow the children. I've said, this
is a child, This is ababy who will not live their life.
You know, they will not haveplaytime, they will not go to prom,
(52:35):
they will not grow up and havetheir own children. And I just
start, you know, thinking ofit in that term. So it's very
disturbing and I do kind of takeit personally each time that I hear about
it, because I know that whateverthe case is, it could have been
prevented. You know, when Iread the story, they said the child
got the gun from a nightstand,or they got it from under the bed,
(52:58):
under the pillow. We had acase here in Detroit maybe a year
or so ago, think a fiveyear old and so one came over to
visit and they put their gun ona table and they put their hat on
top of the table, on topof the gun. Well, you know,
the child reached them there and gotthe gun, and I believe shot
another child. So it's this kindof carelous ness that really bothers me because
(53:22):
I know this can be prevented.This is one of those shootings, one
of those things that we have anability to prevent. And in that kind
of situation, there are more thanjust one family that's involved in most of
these, Right, there's the childwho was lost in their family, and
then in instances where the child isa perpetrator of their children or their family
(53:45):
too, who then the parents orwhoever is a gun owner possibly facing charges,
but just the whole situation really istragic for any and everyone involved.
Do we really understand the extent andthe level of loss that these kinds sas
in part on our families and onour communities. I don't think we do,
and I think that's one of thereasons why it's very important that we
(54:07):
continue to message this and we continueto talk about it, because this is
a tragedy that affects, you know, the entire family, It affects the
community, It affects the school.You know that some of these children are
in schools or daycares, the teachers. I mean, it's very widespread when
(54:27):
these kinds of incidents happen, soit kind of becomes a public health crisis.
It's something that all of us asa community should be concerned about.
We have the mental anguish, youknow, of this happening in some states
now the parents are now being prosecuted. As we wrap up our conversation with
you today, Brenda, if youwould take a moment to speak to our
(54:49):
listeners about the importance of securing theirfirearms and keeping them out of the reach
of children. And I say thisnot so much as asking a question from
a journalist's perspective, but really justwanting to hear your heart unfiltered about this
issue and why it's so important thatwe lock it and store it every night,
every day, however often we haveto keep these guns out of the
(55:09):
reach of our children. It's youknow, I've said so much about it
so far, it's beginning to soundlike a broken record. But this is
something that we can prevent. Andit's not a lot of things that we
can prevent around gun safety, butthis is one of them. So I
want to look at this as acall, not only a call to action.
(55:30):
It's a matter of urgency. Weneed to bring some urgency to this
because it's a crisis. We're losingtoo many children. And to the parents
and guardians out there, you areresponsible for your young people, for your
teens. Please lock up your gun, Please story a gun, get a
gun locked, get more information.The important thing is that we save lives,
(55:54):
We save children. Our research isall ready shown that we love lock
of our guns, when we storethem, when we keep them unloaded and
locked, secured and not accessible,that we do save lives. And that's
about all I can say that thisis something preventable, but it takes all
(56:15):
of us working together, the community, everyone putting this message out, and
it is a matter of urgency.We've gone past just having casual conversation about
it. This is an urgent matterand we need to take care of it,
and we need to make sure thatour kids and our young people are
safe. We thank Deputy Chief Andrewsfor her leadership and guidance on the Lock
(56:37):
It and Stored campaign. We'll hearmore from her over the next several weeks.
And now a special message from bIN President Tony Coles. I'm Tony
Coles, President of the Black InformationNetwork. Through lock In and Store It,
BI aims to raise awareness about theimportance of gun safety in preventing unintentional
shootings, which claim the lives ofdoes of black children each year. Lock
(57:01):
In and Store It encourages gun ownersto always lock and securely store their weapons
so young children don't mistake them fortoys and unintentionally enter themselves or someone else.
BI will air special reports and newsfeatures explaining the role we all can
play in protecting our children from thesepreventable tragedies. Share your thoughts and concerns
(57:23):
about gun safety on the BI TalkbackLive portal on the iHeartRadio app and join
us in spreading the word. Ifyou know a gun owner, encourage them
to always lock and store their firearms. Doing so could save a life.
BI is dedicated to helping keep allmembers of our community safe. Learn more
(57:44):
at binnews dot com. OHI thankyou for joining us for this week's edition
of the Black Perspective Mike Island.We'll be back next week. As always,
we look forward to keeping you informedthroughout the week. Be sure to
follow us on Facebook, Instagram,TikTok, and threads of Black and Information
Network and on exit. Black InfoNet also will go on to be allrnews
dot com and listen to us onthe iHeartRadio app for the latest news and
(58:07):
information impacting the Black community. I'mAndrea Coleman and this is a Black Information
Network, the Black Information Network andsix time Emmy nominated news anchor Vanessa Tyler
welcome you to black Land, apodcast about the ground on which the Black
community stands right now. From storiesabout salvation and loss, I loved a
(58:29):
person who had an a Chrevy diagnosis, The dreams achieved or yet unfulfilled from
people who have made it. Isat down with a therapist and I began
my journey to those left behind.Listen to black Land on the iHeartRadio app
or wherever you get your podcasts.Pin your hands behind your back. In
twenty twenty three, a Black InformationNetwork news anchor created a piece of journalism
(58:52):
so powerful, and he was murderedin his own home. It's being recognized
by the Alliance for Women in Media. Congratulations to Esther Dillard for her twenty
twenty four Gracie Award winning series Black, Autistic and Safe. Check out the
series now at binnews dot com.The largest civil rights conference is coming to
(59:17):
New Orleans this summer, the NationalUrban League Conference July twenty fourth through the
twenty seventh at the Highest Regency,New Orleans. Register today at nulconference dot
org. Don't miss the nation's leadingbusiness, political and community leaders, influencers,
and celebrities as they all meet upfrom the twenty fourth through the twenty
seventh downtown at the Hyde Regency,New Orleans. Don't wait. Register today
(59:42):
at nulconference dot org.
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpointsexpressed in this commentary are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent thoseof b N and its founding partners and
employees. Now it's time to bringthe funk with Roland S. Martin.
We all know Donald Trump is aliar. He will lie anywhere, including
a black church. Over the weekend, he was at one eighty church in
(00:24):
Detroit, and Man, all hedid was lie in this so called form
to reach African Americans when ninety fivepercent of the people sitting in that church
were white. Here is his firstlife. But we achieved the lowest African
American unemployment rate and the lowest AfricanAmerican poverty rate ever recorded, ever,
(00:49):
ever recorded during my four years.Well, that is a lie. Under
him, Black unemployment dropped a fivepoint three percent in August of twenty nineteen.
What under Biden Harris it went downto four point seven percent according to
the US Census Bureau. The lowestever Black poverty rate was seventeen point one
(01:11):
percent. When was that August twentytwenty two. Donald Trump lied the next
lie, seeing the jobs were thebest in the history of our country for
African American for Black Americans. Thejobs were the best in the history of
our country. Other than that,why did I do not that much?
(01:33):
So why is it that forty onepercent of black owned businesses during COVID went
out of business? Folks demand justmakes up lies? Next lie man saying
we have to come back every year, one said, and I say,
respectfully, He said, they makeus feel like a bunch of beggars.
We have to come back to Washingtonevery year. I said, well,
(01:55):
we're going to take care of that. And I got them, actually more
money than they asked for by far, and we got a long term financing.
And he said. The only thingsaid is that I'll never see you
again. Probably I will never meetyou again. Just not true. Sixteen
billion dollars under Biden hairs, Folksstopped believing Donald Trump's lies. He is
not good for Black America. I'mRoland Martin on the Black Information Network.
(02:19):
If I'm Bill Black with another betyou didn't know music? Fact. I
get this request all the time,Bill Black, can you freak another sample?
Absolutely so, through the magic ofsampling. Today, we're gonna take
one song and make two songs outof it. BUF funs. We need
some stink. We need some funk, we need to get lifted, So
we take it back to nineteen seventyfive and call on Casey in the Sunshine
(02:39):
Band that help us out. Yeah, that's the funk we're looking for right
there. Huh. Yeah, soundsfamiliar. You've heard this somewhere before,
but you just can't figure it out. Right, Let's take that part,
slow it down. Yeah, yeah, and some vocals. You got some
(03:00):
fire from bad Boy Records with thegroup on well called Only You. I'm
Bill Black and that's another betch ofdigital music. Pat on the Black Information
Network and now a special presentation ofThe Black Perspective Juneteenth Conversations Securing and Protecting
(03:29):
Freedom. Hello, and welcome toThe Black Perspective. I'm Andrea Coleman and
from Mike Island. Coming up onthis week's edition of The Black Perspective,
(03:49):
our celebration of Black Music Month continuesas Doug Davis takes us inside the career
and contributions of another black artist.We hear from members of the Atlanta Police
Department about the efforts to increase thenumber of officers they have on their force.
And we're losing four hundred children,you know, a year, and
that's very disturbing for me. Whywe should care about gun safety. We
(04:11):
talk with the retired law enforcement leaderabout the importance and timing of Bion's first
ever public awareness campaign called Lockett andStore It. We're raising awareness about the
importance of keeping guns out of thereach of children to help save their lives.
But first and now, a specialpresentation of the Black perspective Juneteenth Conversations
(04:35):
Securing and Protecting Freedom. We startwith an eloquent and poignant reminder of the
history of June tenth, the nationalholiday commemorates today in eighteen sixty five,
when enslaved black people in Texas learnedof their freedom. The notice came two
years after the signing of the EmancipationProclamation and the freeing of slaves elsewhere in
(04:56):
the South. As we celebrate theholiday this year, Beyond received the special
privilege of speaking with Texas US CongressmanAl Green. He has represented the state's
ninth congressional district since being elected intwo thousand and four. In this interview
with B's Nicole Deal, Congressman Greengives a detailed account of this historic occasion
and sheds light on the contribution ofdozens of black soldiers who made it happen.
(05:20):
Here's Nicole. You are listening tothe Black Information Network and we are
delighted to be on the line withUS Congressman Al Green from Houston's ninth Congressional
District. Such a pleasure and privilegeto have you join us today, Congressman,
as we talk about the meaning ofJune teenth. Welcome, well,
(05:40):
thank you very much. I'm lookingforward to the interview. June tenth is
a very significant day in the livesof our people. We know that the
Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order thatwas issued by then President Abraham Lincoln in
eighteen sixty three. But we alsoknow that slaves here in Texas did not
know about their freedom until roughly twoyears later, on June nineteenth of eighteen
(06:04):
sixty five. So with that beingsaid, I'd like to ask you what
does Juneteenth mean to you personally andthen also in a broader sense in terms
of black families and black communities.Well, thank you for the question.
Juneteenth is a very special day.My dear friend Al Edwards, whom I
(06:25):
knew very well, was the fatherof Juneteenth. He brought this legislation before
the Texas House of Representatives when hewas a neophyte and managed to get it
past. It was a remarkable thingto have occurred when you're a neophyte in
the state House. As a result, Juneteenth became a state holiday. The
(06:46):
very first in the country to recognizeJune teenth was the state of Texas.
This holiday is special because it isa celebration of freedom. And while the
slaves were not freed solely because ofthe Emancipation Proclamation, the thirteenth Amendment is
probably the actual piece of legislation thatfreed the enslaved people, but it was
(07:14):
symbolic in the sense that it saidto people that their lives were going to
change. They didn't change immediately,and they didn't change to the extent that
they should have, but they didknow that there was something called freedom,
it was on the horizon, andthat it could make a difference in their
lives. To give you a bitof the details, General Gordon Branger came
(07:38):
into Galveston, Texas on what wecall Juneteenth now of eighteen sixty five.
When General Gordon Granger arrived, hewas there and able to read General Order
number three. General Order number threewas a document that announced freedom but didn't
(07:59):
bring with it things that people wouldneed to survive. People were literally freed
to the winds, the rains,the elements, or they could stay where
they were and work out some sortof arrangement with the person who had enslaved
them or the people who had enslaved, which was probably not one of the
things that people would want to dowho have just been extricated from slavery.
(08:24):
This opportunity was made possible by themen and people who were in the twenty
fifth Army Corps. These were athousand black slaves who had been freed and
were now a part of the military, the Army Corps that was there to
liberate the people in Galveston, andthey did it. They literally ran the
(08:48):
Confederates all the way to the border. They made it possible for General boarding
Ranger to have this June teenth readingof the General Order number three, Fifth
Army Corps. They have not beenproperly recognized. We recognize General Gordon Granger
for what he did, and Irespect him for what he did and appreciate
(09:09):
what he did. But the fightthat took place occurred before the reading of
General Order number three and that fightwas by primarily black persons who were enslaved
at one time and had been freeto join the Union Army. That part
of the history has to be appreciatedand celebrated as well. Excellent point,
(09:31):
Thank you so much. What areyou some of your thoughts on the black
life experience in the state of Texasright now? The state of Texas has
had persons who have come forth withthe notion that slavery was involuntary relocation.
Hardly the case. People were stolenfrom their homes, stolen from their land,
(09:56):
kidnapped, placed on ships and stackedlogs like cargo. Many of them
did not survive the trip, andthose that did were not always in the
best of health whilst they reached theseshores. But it was just a horrific
circumstance, and to try to minimizeit and make it seem as though the
(10:20):
persons who were enslaved acquired skills thatthey might be able to use later in
life, knowing that they would onlybe able to use those skills as persons
who were enslaved and working for aslave master. People were raped, they
were murdered, they were whipped,they were separated from their families. It
was a crime against humanity, probablyone of the greatest crimes ever against humanity.
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There is nothing like it ever beforeor after, just as there's nothing
like the Holocaust before or after.These are two horrific crimes against humanity.
There are other crimes against humanity,the crimes that were committed against the indigenous
population in this country, the AboriginalAmericans, but slavery is somewhat unique in
(11:11):
that it lasted for three hundred andforty six years. We're talking about centuries
of slavery in this country, andwe need to understand why the Africans were
brought to this country and enslave.They were brought here to serve a purpose.
(11:33):
They were to be a permanent,identifiable, subservient cast of people,
not class. A class is asocioeconomic circumstance. You can move in and
out of a class. But youwere born into slavery, babies were enslaved.
(11:54):
You would live your life as aslave, and you would die enslave.
Three centuries plus nearly another half century. That is something that started on
August twentieth of sixteen nineteen, whenthe White Lion a ship landed in Point
(12:16):
Comfort near what we now call NorfolkVirginia, and it had the first twenty
persons of African ancestry on board,and they were introduced into slavery into the
colonies. This, my friends,was a seminal moment in time that has
impacted the rest of time in thiscountry. From that second forward, from
(12:37):
that sentilla of a second forward,things changed, and they changed to the
extent that some people enjoyed having theservices of people who were enslaved. It
meant something to them to own ofthe people and to treat them as they
desired. In fact, one ofthe chief justices of the Supreme Court,
(12:58):
in Dreaded Scott, Chief Justice Tanny, indicated that the slaves had no rights,
that a white man had the respect. I'm paraphrasing, but that's the
essence of his statement. So wehad no rights. We were enslaved,
and as a result of that peopleacquired great wealth. These enslaved people were
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the economic foundational mothers and fathers ofthe country. They built the roads,
the bridges, they planted, thecrops they harvested, They fed the nation.
They built the actual capital where Iwork in Washington, d c.
Their hands were involved in the buildingof the White House. They were the
(13:46):
economic foundational mothers and fathers of thecountry. The greatness of America was achieved
with the enslavement of more than tenmillion people of African ancestry, and we
should not forget that. Which comesback to Texas. Texas would have us
not have this be any part ofthe school education that persons would receive.
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They don't want it to be apart of the public education. If it's
going to be done, they wouldhave us do it in our homes,
or in our places of worship perhaps, or in some other places in society,
in our social clubs maybe. Butthey don't want to taught in the
schools. They are trying as bestas they can to prevent what I just
(14:33):
said from ever being uttered in apublic school setting. The theory appears to
be that they don't want children whoare not of African ancestry to somehow feel
that they're being demeaned by the truthbeing told. But they overlook how the
children of African ancestry are being treatedwhen the truth is not told to them
(14:56):
about their ancestors. And the conditionthat have haunted Africans in this country from
our first arrival still haunts us tothis day. It's a very sad thing
to know that you live in sucha state, but it's a wonderful thing
to know that I have the freedomof speech to voice my opinion as I'm
doing now. I have the rightto organize and get people to vote so
(15:22):
that we can change things. AndI have the right to let people know
that notwithstanding all of the things thathave happened, we can still make a
difference in our lives. We butonly have to work harder at which we
shouldn't have to do. But we'llhave to work harder, and we'll have
to try harder, and we willdo better. Absolutely, Wow, so
(15:43):
much sat there. I could justpiggyback on so much there, but just
absolutely riveting, powerful, and Ithink the message really hit home about rolling
back the cloth. That kind ofleads me into my next question. Do
you think I think that life forblacks in the state of Texas right now?
How do you think that the experiencesthat blacks are having today in Texas
(16:08):
compare with blacks who lived here inprevious eras. Well, things are better
than previous eras because obviously people wereenslaved in the state of Texas. Texas
is the only state in the Unionto seceed twice because they didn't want to
give up slavery. Texas was apart of Mexico, and the government there
(16:32):
said, Texas, you've got togive up this notion that you're going to
enslave people. Texas said, no, We'll keep our slaves and we'll leave
Mexico, and they did. Andthen in the United States, Texas decided
that it would secede from the Unionbecause it desired to maintain the institution of
slavery. Things have changed, there'sno question. But now the question is
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this, do we compare ourselves solelyto the condition that we had that was
horrific, or do we want tocompare ourselves to current circumstances that others enjoy
that we don't enjoy. I thinkthat we ought to aspire to have equality
of opportunity, just as others havegreat opportunities. I think that people of
(17:21):
African ancestry should have those same opportunities, not only here in Texas, but
across the country. I'll give youa very good example of what I speak.
We have had many persons to testifyabout how they would go to various
institutions to try to acquire something andhave persons who were of different hues to
go, different genders to go,and how people of color were treated differently,
(17:47):
how people of color would have topay more for loans even if they
were more qualified, More qualified,pay more for your loan, More qualified
pay more points, more qualified havea higher interest rate. My point is,
though, that we have empirical evidenceto show that when it comes to
(18:07):
just banking, African Americans are nottreated the same as some others in our
society, and Texas is no exceptionwhen it comes to this. That has
to change, and that is achange across the country, as I've indicated,
and we have a bill that wepassed in the House that would deal
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with this. I think that ifyou rob a person of a loan that
they're qualified to have, I thinkyou've committed a crime. And we literally
passed a bill penalizing persons to dothis, a penal law, and this
law indicated that if you were qualifiedfor your loan and you didn't get it,
(18:55):
and the person did it because ofyour color, your race, then
you should be able to prosecute thatperson. This is the way you will
end in vidious discrimination. I don'twant to manage it. I applaud those
who want to manage it to dothat. I want to end it.
And the way they end it isto make it a crime to discriminate against
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a person intentionally when that discrimination robsa person of a benefit the person would
be entitled to otherwise. In thearea of healthcare, the people in this
state who have the least amount ofhealth care are people of color, and
these persons could do a lot betterif Texas would but only take money from
(19:41):
the federal government that would be utilizedfor Medicaid. The federal government offers Texas
one hundred billion dollars, not million, one hundred billion dollars for Medicaid,
and Texas turned the money down,would not take it to help poor people.
Poor people percentage wise, most ofwhom in this state are persons of
(20:06):
color percentage wise. So when itcomes to healthcare, people of color suffer
more. But this is not tosay that Anglos don't suffer, and may
suffer in greater numbers. That's becausethey are greater numbers in the state of
Texas. But people of color aresuffering when it comes to this whole notion
(20:27):
of having good health care. Whenit comes to the judicial system. In
Texas, it is better to berich and guilty than poor, and a
person of color who's innocent, innocentperson of color is more likely to be
(20:47):
found guilty than a rich guilty personin the state of Texas, and probably
same way in most states in thiscountry. So things have changed, but
there is still much change to takeplace, and we have to continue to
fight for the change. Not fightin terms of being engaging in fisticoffs,
(21:11):
but fight in terms of taking politicalstands for things that some people would say
are just not doable, for example, making it a crime to rob a
person of a loan that they're entitledto have. Texas has come a long
way, but Texas still has along way to go. Texas Congressman Al
(21:33):
Green, thank you so much foryour time today and for all of your
insight on the connective history behind theJuneteenth Holiday. Please come back and see
us again, real, real soon, once again. Today's special guest has
been Al Green, Congressional member fromthe City of Houston's ninth District. I'm
Nicole Deal and you're listening to ourspecial Juneteenth edition of The Black Perspective.
(22:00):
Back to you. Thank you,Nicole Our special reports honoring Juneteenth will continue
next Sunday, when Amber Payton talksto black leaders outside the state of Texas
about securing and protecting freedom from anational perspective. Well June is also Black
Music Mouth, and as we continueto spotlight black artists who have influenced the
music scene in the US and elsewhere. BIS Doug Davis is back with a
(22:23):
Grammy winning independent R and B artistwhose music many of us know and love.
This is Doug Davis, and it'sa pleasure for me to have on
this show. One of my favoritenational recording artists, PK Kid PJ Morton.
He's a Grammy winning singer, songwriter, and musician. His new book
and title, Saturday Night Sunday Morning, is out. He also has a
(22:44):
new album that's out. His newsingle entitled Please Be Good, is available
at all streaming outlets. Welcome tothe show, PJ. So, brother,
what inspired you to write your memoirSaturday Night Sunday Morning. I think
I have in ninety yes, sowhy really think it was partly because of
how unique my life is and partlybecause of how much I think people can
(23:08):
relate to it. I think it'sunique in the sense that, you know,
I've managed to exist in all ofthese different worlds. I mean a
preacher's kid, grew up a preacher'skid, started off, you know,
writing gospel music for artists, butthen as an artist, became a soul
and R and B artist, youknow, signed the Little Wayne at one
(23:29):
time, then joined Maroon five,you know, and a pop band.
So I think my whole life hasbeen a little bit of Saturday night,
a little bit of Sunday morning.But but but I've stayed true to myself
and all of that and managed tofind some success here more recently, you
(23:51):
know, five Grammy Awards in thelast seven years and you know, a
lot and being able to do thatindependently. So I think for me,
it was time to tell my storyand kind of give people an insight on
how I got here. Yeah,how was your move over to secular received
(24:12):
by your family? Have such arich, you know, musical family when
it comes to gospel music, Howwas that received? And I'm sure are
you going to that in the book. Oh yeah, for sure. I
mean I didn't, thankfully. Asan artist, I never moved over,
you know, I never I startedoff with an R and B record,
you know, you know, soI was always there. But I think
(24:33):
as a songwriter and just as apreacher's kid, me deciding not to do
gospel music was met with some metwith a lot of a lot of flack,
you know, initially from my family, but then from from others,
you know, from from members ofthe church or members that followed my father.
(24:56):
So it was it was quite abit a sacrifice initially because honestly,
the way my father was known,going to gospel right would have been easier
for me, you know, Icould have found easier success in that,
but it just wasn't my purpose andit didn't feel genuine to me, and
(25:18):
so it was quite it was quitechallenging initially, and but I just kept
fighting and creating these spaces. SoI love to see now how you know,
some churches will call me and askme to do their their singles night,
you know, or or their youknow, their conference for couples.
It's evolved since since I started,for sure. Let's talk about that evolution.
(25:41):
How did your upbringing in a familyof pastors and gospel artists influence uh
this musical journey that you're expressing inthis book. Well, I think just
ultimately for me, like even asI do soul music, I think soul
music is is kind of like thecorner of gospel music and the spirituality that
(26:02):
that brings and the feeling you getfrom that, and you know, and
the soul side is the lyrics.You know, may may may speak about
something other than God, but Ithink it's the same space, you know,
I think it comes from the sameplace. So for me, I
think that spirituality and what would Iconnect to in gospel music. That's one
(26:22):
of the requirements, you know,in gospel music is that you got to
be able to feel it. SoI take that with me in whatever I
do, you know, trying toconnect in a real way. Right when
you were growing up, I knowa few you know, pks, and
they used to tell me they wouldhave to sneak, you know, to
listen to certain artists, you know, because it wasn't allowed in the household.
(26:45):
How was that for you? Anddo you, you know, share
some of those moments in this book? Yeah, I do. I go
into all of that because thankfully itwasn't as strict, so it wasn't that
I couldn't listen to it at all, but I did get in trouble for
listening to some some rap music andsome rap music early on, my dad
(27:07):
broke my CD and threw it away. That's in the book. But but
but it was really Sundays. Weweren't allowed to listen to secular music on
Sundays, and so you know,sometimes sometimes when you can't do something,
that's when you want to do itthe most, you know, Right,
So I probably will want to listento my records, you know, on
(27:27):
Sundays. But but yeah, thatwas that was that was a sacred day
and we only listened to gospel musicand less, like you said, I
would have to go sneak and listento my listen to my music. Yeah,
what kind of obstacles did you facewhile developing your independent sound and launching
Morton Records? And do you gointo some of those details. Yeah,
(27:49):
A big part of the book isreally about my independence and trusting myself,
trusting my gut, trusting my instincts, because I mean, for me,
you know, you talk about independencenow and it's maybe more of a popular
subject, you know, or youknow, people talking about owning masters now
and stuff that's like more of apopular thing. But for me, it
(28:12):
just was out of necessity. Icouldn't get signed to a major label.
Nobody saw my potential and so Iwas forced to try to figure it out
myself. So I started learning everypart of the business, you know,
from the from the marketing to theto the sales, to the radio how
(28:33):
that worked, and the touring.And you know, I was, you
know, putting my band on afifteen passenger and you know, driving from
city to city. So I builtit brick by brick, and that was
out of necessity. You know,it's because I couldn't get looked at by
a major. But I really stuckto who I was. Being independent allowed
(28:53):
me to think outside of the boxreally and created different space for myself,
for my sound, and then startto develop a following, you know,
with my touring, and touring hasbeen has been like the lifeline for us
more than anything. Absolutely play live, Yeah. Tell us about your experience
(29:17):
when you visited Africa and your newalbum which you've recorded there, and by
the way, I love your firstsingle, please Be Good. You're saying
a whole lot in that song,and you collaborated with a lot of African
artists and musicians. Tell us aboutthat experience Did you plan to record the
album in Africa or was it justan epiphany? Yeah, so that was
the plan. No, the planwas to go to Africa and for thirty
(29:41):
days and write a complete project.While I was there, I wanted to
really challenge myself and kind of youknow, ignite something, you know,
just looking for inspiration. And sowe went to four countries, going to
South Africa and went to Nigeria,Ghana, Egypt. And that was one
(30:03):
of the first things that was alesson was how big Africa is. I'm
thinking, maybe I'm going from NewYork to Chicago or something, you know,
going from South Africa to Nigeria,it's like ten hours, you know.
So it was like that was thefirst awakening, like wait, it's
that far away. Within creating thereand connecting with with my people and some
(30:27):
of the questions I got from peopleat home asking how Africa was going to
be. It was crazy, butit's not so crazy because of how Africa
has been shown to us. Butman, I found so much inspiration there.
And you know, I was onlygoing to a do an album,
but I made sure before I went, and my team allowed me to like
(30:52):
deal with the culture as much aspossible, the food, the people,
the nightlife, to everything, andbecause I wanted to engulf myself and man,
it was way more than an album. It was life changing for me
and I just want to keep goingback. It's beyond the music for me
now, but just keep building andconnecting to Africa. I just think there's
(31:15):
so much more to do with withall of us. I feel like,
well, way more connected than disconnected. You know, just gotta gotta put
it together. And you can hearit in your first single. I mean
it touches my spirit when I hearit. Yeah, from the music to
the lyrics, just the whole vibe. I did please be good in Nigeria
(31:36):
with this with this young producer namedPete Prime, and that's what it was.
I felt. I felt it assoon as he played the track.
And because I was there, Ionly had thirty days. You just have
to write from instincts. So Iwas just writing, and like you said,
I said a lot in there,but I didn't know what I was
saying really, you know, likeI was letting my kind of like my
(31:57):
spirit speak And now that I listento it, I get it. But
in that moment, it was justlike just create, you know, and
so I'm glad that it went thatway. That's how I was wanting it
to go, was just to letit take over. I'm saying it in
the song. You know, Idon't need to be in control. I
just want to let go. Pleasebe good. I'm asking Africa to please
(32:20):
be good to me, you know, in this process, and my brain,
the police, be good and mysoul. So yeah, man,
it was a life changing trip forsure. But the PJ my time is
up. Man. Thank you forsharing some time with us. Your new
book Saturday Night Sunday Morning is out, as well as your new album Cape
Down to Cairo. This is DougDavis. You're listening to the Black Information
(32:42):
Network. Many police forces across thecountry are looking to bring on more officers.
The Atlanta Police Department is one ofthem. The department is holding a
hiring event next week and is encouraginganyone interested in joining their team to apply.
Members of APD. You spoke withBI in several days ago about the
care real opportunities available to qualified candidates. So thank you very much for joining
(33:05):
us. Thank you for having us. Yeah, and if you will,
please share a little bit about eachof you of what you do. How
long you've been on the Atlanta Policeto force in a little bit about your
career history, Officer Africa Massie,I have been on the department for nine
years. I'm originally from Orlando,Florida. I started my career over in
Zone six, that's the East Atlantaarea. I spent two years there and
(33:25):
then I went to the APEX unit. I was there for five years and
I'm also a hostage negotiator. I'vebeen on that team for the past three
years and now I am here atbackground and recruitment. Very good, Officer
of Bouquete, what about you?My name is Officer Bouquette. I'm originally
from four Latta at, Florida.I served the City of Atlanta for eight
years. I've been in Zone forSouthwest Atlanta area. Very good. And
(33:50):
Lieutenant Young, what about you?Hi there, I am Lieutenant Toya Young.
I'm originally from Chicago. So Iwas recruited out of Chicago by the
police department at a recruitment event,and so now I'm here trying to do
the same thing. But I've beenon about eighteen years now. I started
off as a patrol officer in Zonesix. After doing that for a few
years, I made investigator. ThenI went to the domestic violence unit.
(34:14):
From the domestic violence unit, Iwent to Crimes against Children, so I
did investigations on sexual assault victims withchildren. From there, I made sergeant,
went over to Zone two. Fromthere, I made lieutenant, went
out to Zone four. I wasin Zone four for a little bit and
then I was on an order tocome here to background recruitment. And I
have been here for the last twoyears and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
(34:37):
That's wonderful. I mean, yourcareer really kind of highlights the opportunities,
the career opportunities that are available foranyone who joins the force. Absolutely
absolutely, I've been very fortunate.Wow. So what true you to law
enforcement? So I have a degreein psychology with a heavy background in criminology,
and it made me very interested inbecoming police officers. So here I
(35:00):
am offer super cat. I'll givecredit to my university. When I went
there for football, it was timefor me to pick my major, and
I picked criminology and I was Istuck with it ever since. And what
university is at Mayor Mack College inBoston, very good, and Lieutenant Young,
what about you. I came onwith an associate's degree in criminal justice
(35:20):
when I got here, then thedepartment offered to send me back to school
and paid for my bachelor's degree.So I continued with criminal justice and that
aspect as well. But if Ileave it up to my mother to say
why I became a police officer,she would say it's because I'm bossy,
But in all honesty, it's andit sounds cliche, but I have a
huge heart and seeing people thrive andassisting people in situations where it seems like
(35:46):
no one else can help them.Being that person that steps saying to be
able to help them organize that situation. It feels good at the end of
the day. So you're here threeoutstanding and highly professional looking officers who are
all black, two women, onemale. How important is diversity and representation
(36:07):
on the Atlanta Police Force. Ithink it's very important. I think it's
important for us to look like thecommunity that we serve. Me in particular,
I love when we have a lotof female applicants because I think that
women bring a different perspective to policingand that we bring a different level of
(36:28):
safety or comfort to some of thecommunity members out there who maybe don't feel
as comfortable with male officers, notfor any particular reason outside of just some
of the situations they went through werevery unfortunate, and so I think that
we definitely bring a different aspect topolicing. That's very important. You know,
when most of us think about policeofficers, we're seeing you guys really
(36:52):
on the front lines of defending ourcommunities against crime. It looks very challenging,
it looks dangerous, it looks veryrisky. So talk a little bit
about the demand to being a policeofficer and how you prepare for that.
How do you handle that? Forme, I think I just go into
every situation wanted to treat everybody likethey were my family, wanted to treat
(37:13):
everybody like I would want my familyto be treated, and I think that
has given me some positive outcomes.I agree with MASKI you say, I'll
stick with that. I would saythat the police Academy actually prepared me.
When I came on, I wastwenty three years old, so I was
very young. But going through thepolice Academy, they put you through all
different types of scenarios to prepare youfor what's real life on the streets,
(37:37):
and then field training. Field trainingis where you get after you finish your
time in the academy. Then youhave time on the streets with an officer
to see exactly what it is dayto day that you're going to be handling.
And the training that the Police Apartmentprovides, the Atlanta Police Apartment provides
is exceptional. So how do youmaintain a healthy work life balance because this
(37:59):
really is a high stress job.It is a high stress job, but
it's also very rewarding. For me. I like to travel and I also
do yoga, I like to workout. Got to have different hobbies,
yes, most definitely have to havedifferent hobbies. For me. My children
are my hobby, so they're intoall type of sports. So when once
I'm off, then I'm playing mommyand from basketball practice the football practice.
(38:21):
But I love traveling and I alsolove reading. So those are my ways
to stress from the job. That'sreally good. So let's talk about this
hiring event that the APD has comingup. If you can tell us a
little bit about it and how peoplecan learn more. So our event it
is at Atlanta Public Safety Headquarters,which is two twenty six Peachtree Street,
(38:42):
Southwest. It's from eight am totwo pm. We would like you to
come dress professionally because you're going tobe interviewed. If you go to our
hiring page join Atlanta PD dot org, there is a special link for our
Atlanta June twenty ninth event. Youclick on that link to start the process.
Within that you'll be able to fillout your pre questionnaire. From that
questionnaire, you'll get correspondence back fromthe police Department. So you just need
(39:07):
to look out for you in youremails for a correspondence from Guardian Alliance asking
you to upload documents and fill outyour PHQ. The PHQ is an actual
application that we use to go throughthe hiring process. We need that filled
out one hundred percent and come preparedat eight am on Saturday, June twenty
ninth, and we'll be able togive you all of your assessments that day
(39:29):
and offer you a conditional offer ofemployment. Now what's a conditional letter?
So a conditional offer would be usgiving you a letter saying that if you've
passed all of your assessments, thenyou're more than likely to get a final
offer of employment. So you willcome to our hiring event and you'll take
a written psychological test, You'll meetwith our on site psychologists, we will
(39:52):
fingerprint you, and then at thatpoint we give you the conditional offer.
If you've passed all of those assessments, we'll give you a condition offer to
go and take your medical assessment.That's incredible. So now that process again
starts before you you even arrive.You have to go to that website and
first apply, and then the responsewill let you know if you have been
(40:14):
selected to attend the hiring event onthe twenty ninth. It's not correct.
Correct absolutely. Also, if youhave any questions in the interim, please
give us a call at four zerofour five, four six seven six five
zero. That's really good. Andwhat kind of salaries are we talking about?
The recruits start with the salary offive four seven one five and if
(40:36):
you are coming in as a transferor lateral, you could start anywhere between
five nine one eight zero or eightynine nine to two. That's really impressive.
So what are the qualifications to apply? To apply for Atlanta Police Department?
You must be a US citizen.You must be at least twenty and
a half years of age. Youmust have a high school diploma or a
GED. You must have a ballotdriver's license. And if you're military,
(41:00):
let's bring your DD two fourteen.And how why does your search or who
can apply? Is it just formetro Atlanta residents or are we talking about
people across the country. We don'tjust stay in Atlanta. We go out
of state. We travel everywhere.Our last recruiting event was New York and
before that we went to Miami.So we have an upcoming event after our
(41:22):
event, it would be in Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, So look out
for that. Once a person goesto the website, they apply, they
are accepted, they're invited to cometo the June twenty ninth event. They
go through all of that, theyget their conditional offer. They then are
accepted on the force. What happensafter that? What does it look like
(41:43):
when you're just joining the Atlanta PoliceDepartment? What kind of training? And
I guess how rigorous are training dothose new officers face? So obviously you
have to come out the academy academysix months. And when you come out
the academy, you'll be going intoa field training. You'll be with a
for a training officer who's going towalk you through step by step what you
need to do and how to gobuy your business on the beat on the
(42:07):
streets, and then pretty much yougot a probation period where when you get
through that ninety day probation period,then we'll know you're confident enough to be
on your own and continue your journeybeing a police officer. Is it rigorous?
The academy is definitely rigorous. It'snot easy and it's not meant to
be easy because being a police officeris a tough job. You know,
you're facing dangers that most people don'tface on a day to day basis,
(42:30):
so they want you prepared and theymake sure that you're prepared for that.
What characteristics make for a good policeofficer. We like to go by our
core values, which is professionalism,integrity, courage and commitment. If you
possess those characteristics, you'll be agreat law enforcement officer. Officer Africa Massi,
(42:50):
Officer Minos Bouquette, Am I pronouncingthat correctly, ma'am. Yeah,
And Lieutenant Toya Young, we thankyou so much for joining us on the
Beyona in and we look forward toseeing how successful your event is. It
seems like you're well prepared, andthank you for your service. Thank you,
thank you for having us. Andjust a reminder, the application process
begins before you arrive at the event. You must first visit join Atlanta PD
(43:15):
dot org and complete and submit theforums posted under the tab labeled June twenty
ninth event. The Atlanta Police Departmentwill then let you know by email if
you qualify to attend the actual hiringevent next Saturday. Because gun safety starts
at home, lock it and StoreIt on the Black perspective well, the
(43:36):
Black Information Network has launched its firstpublic safety awareness campaign called locket and Store
It. Over the next three months, we will run special reports and features
explaining the importance of gun safety andpreventing unintentional shootings by children and teens,
which last year claimed the lives ofalmost four hundred children, many of them
(43:57):
black. The issue is a bigone in the black community. According to
the National Institute on Minority Health andHealth Disparities and twenty twenty, black children
made up to forty seven percent ofthe four thousand debts among all youth,
and approximately five Black youth between theages of one and nineteen die by firearms
every day. Since twenty twenty,firearm injuries have become the leading cause of
(44:22):
death for black youth. Brenda GossAndrews, immediate past president of the National
Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives,also known as Noble, and former deputy
police chief in Detroit, is amember of the bi IN Local Roundtable.
The Roundtable is a forum for businessand civic leaders from local communities across the
US to provide perspective and collaborate withbion's leadership team regarding the network's programming and
(44:46):
local engagement. Former Deputy police ChiefAndrews served as law enforcement advisor for the
Locket Instored campaign. She recently spokewith bi IN about why the issue of
gun safety is one we all needto take seriously. When did the issue
of unintentional shootings my children catch yourattention? Well, it was really by
(45:07):
happenstance or maybe divine intervention. I'mnot sure, but I was working on
a class paper for my doctor andI came across an article about unintentional shootings
from unsecured guns at home, andit pointed out that these shootings were happening
primarily and with minority children and homesof lower socioeconomic circumstances. So that right
(45:30):
there piqued my interests. And eventhough it wasn't part of my assignment,
I thought it was something that Iwould like to know a little bit more
about. So I started searching.I didn't really find any other articles,
so I started searching for news articles, and much to my surprise, there
was quite a few articles out thereabout accidental shootings with young children, I
(45:52):
mean young under ten years old,and that's what was stark for me.
And they were being killed at home, unsecured guns. They're killing themselves,
killing other siblings, other children thathappened to be by, and it was
quite prevalent. And also I talkedto colleagues across the country, some of
(46:13):
the police chiefs. I said,is this happening in your community or is
this just an anomaly? And theysaid, no, it's really happening.
I said, well, we don'thear much about it. So that's kind
of what got me started and beinginterested in this particular topic. Now,
as a law enforcement expert, whatabout the situation and the number of unintentional
shootings registered? Most with you?I'm speaking more from a law enforcement perspective,
(46:37):
something that we in the public maynot really understand. Well. I
think what was most startling is thatchildren as young as two and three years
old, we're getting a hold ofthese guns and shooting themselves, and I
was just wondering, how are theyable to do this, and why were
the guardians of these children being sonegligent. So well, what registered with
(47:00):
me is that this does not haveto happen. This is something that is
preventable. And as I dug intoit a little bit more, another thing
was that our young people are ourteens. We know suicides have gone up,
but most of the time they're gettingthese guns from home in mass shootings
like Sandy Hook and right here inmy metropolitan area, Oxford High School,
(47:22):
a student took a gun from homeand killed four of their classmates. So
all of that registered with me thatwe weren't really talking about it, we
weren't really hearing about it, andwe weren't hearing anything from the media.
And that was one of my majorconcerns is why aren't we hearing more reporting
on this incident? And it seemsto be happening all around our country.
(47:45):
So when you look at campaigns likethe one you started with Noble, which
is it starts at home, andthen the one that we're doing here the
Black Information Network Locket and store it. What's your hope as we work to
bring attention and raise awareness about thisissue. When I launched this campaign as
the president of Noble, national organizationBlack Law Enforcement Executives, I wanted a
(48:07):
campaign that was going to be meaningful, that was going to be sustainable,
something that was going to make achange or social change in our community and
be impactful. And I came upwith it starts at home. And a
lot of people say, well,why did you come up with that cliche?
Is it? Because if you thinkabout it, everything starts at home
(48:28):
our lives. Soon as we're born, it starts at home. Whether we
learn things, whether it's good,bad, or in different you know,
it actually starts at home. SoI said, I will pick this and
kind of resonate with people. Itbe something they can understand, and we
started the campaign. That was oneof my pillars, and I started working
with law enforcement agencies. We wereable to get gunlocks and do some free
(48:51):
events around the country with law enforcement, and you know, that was really
welcomed by my colleagues. They knewabout it, but it had not been
any organized campaign to deal with it. Certainly, fast forward now the last
few years, last year, we'rebeginning to hear more and more about people
picking this up and talking about gunsafety and safe gun storage. Are there
(49:14):
are laws there being passed? Andknow here in Michigan we passed a safe
gun Storage Act that has penalties attachedto it. So right now, I
think it's just a matter of awarenessthings that you're doing with your network,
that we're talking about it, andwe're letting the community know, and we're
letting people know about this and thatit is happening, and we're losing four
(49:35):
hundred children, you know, ayear, and that's very disturbing for me.
What is it about guns that capturesthe attention and interest of children,
I mean, especially extremely young oneswho don't understand the dangers of fire arms.
Well, I want to go allthe way back, because you know,
America was kind of built on violenceand guns, so we're unlike some
other countries that did not have thatfascination about guns and viol so our country
(50:01):
kind of glorified that. And ifyou think back, I know I can
think back when we were kids,we played cowboys and Indians or cops and
robbers, so, you know,we became fascinated with the gun. We
looked at cartoons that show but inthe cartoon it always showed you would shoot
(50:21):
them and then what would happen nextnext thing, you know, they were
standing back up. So children don'tunderstand, you know, the injury and
the death side of it. Youknow, becomes just kind of a game
and a fun and a fascination.And we as adults, we've allowed that
to kind of grow and fester.So I think especially young children, they
(50:43):
don't grasp that, and you know, those tender ages, it's kind of
hard for them to form the Idon't think their brains are in place where
they can really understand the consequences andthe effects and something. You have a
two or three year old, youknow, they have no idea. So
I think our culture built that.How receptive are gun owners to making certain
(51:04):
that their firearms are safe, thatthey are locked and stored and even unloaded
as they are putting them away andputting them out of the reach of children.
To be candidate and don't have anyresearch or data on this, I
think we do have some responsible gunowners out there, but they have politicized
this so much that the attention thatwe need to pay in terms of keeping
(51:30):
our children and our youth safe islost, you know, in that messaging
of politics and partisan politics, whenwe really should be concentrating on how we
can prevent this from happening. SoI would think there are some responsible gun
owners, but there are many outthere that are not, and therein lies
(51:52):
the problem, and therein lies thefour hundred children that we're seeing, you
know, being killed or harmed eachyear. When you hear of a child
or a person losing their life becauseof an unintentional shooting, what goes through
your mind? And I'm asking thaton a personal level, and then also
from your years and experience in lawenforcement. Two words preventable. This could
(52:15):
have been prevented, This did nothave to happen, and just anguish,
you know, just tragedy, becausewhen I hear about it, I take
it kind of personally. I don'tknow the children. I've said, this
is a child, This is ababy who will not live their life.
You know, they will not haveplaytime, they will not go to prom,
(52:35):
they will not grow up and havetheir own children. And I just
start, you know, thinking ofit in that term. So it's very
disturbing and I do kind of takeit personally each time that I hear about
it, because I know that whateverthe case is, it could have been
prevented. You know, when Iread the story, they said the child
got the gun from a nightstand,or they got it from under the bed,
(52:58):
under the pillow. We had acase here in Detroit maybe a year
or so ago, think a fiveyear old and so one came over to
visit and they put their gun ona table and they put their hat on
top of the table, on topof the gun. Well, you know,
the child reached them there and gotthe gun, and I believe shot
another child. So it's this kindof carelous ness that really bothers me because
(53:22):
I know this can be prevented.This is one of those shootings, one
of those things that we have anability to prevent. And in that kind
of situation, there are more thanjust one family that's involved in most of
these, Right, there's the childwho was lost in their family, and
then in instances where the child isa perpetrator of their children or their family
(53:45):
too, who then the parents orwhoever is a gun owner possibly facing charges,
but just the whole situation really istragic for any and everyone involved.
Do we really understand the extent andthe level of loss that these kinds sas
in part on our families and onour communities. I don't think we do,
and I think that's one of thereasons why it's very important that we
(54:07):
continue to message this and we continueto talk about it, because this is
a tragedy that affects, you know, the entire family, It affects the
community, It affects the school.You know that some of these children are
in schools or daycares, the teachers. I mean, it's very widespread when
(54:27):
these kinds of incidents happen, soit kind of becomes a public health crisis.
It's something that all of us asa community should be concerned about.
We have the mental anguish, youknow, of this happening in some states
now the parents are now being prosecuted. As we wrap up our conversation with
you today, Brenda, if youwould take a moment to speak to our
(54:49):
listeners about the importance of securing theirfirearms and keeping them out of the reach
of children. And I say thisnot so much as asking a question from
a journalist's perspective, but really justwanting to hear your heart unfiltered about this
issue and why it's so important thatwe lock it and store it every night,
every day, however often we haveto keep these guns out of the
(55:09):
reach of our children. It's youknow, I've said so much about it
so far, it's beginning to soundlike a broken record. But this is
something that we can prevent. Andit's not a lot of things that we
can prevent around gun safety, butthis is one of them. So I
want to look at this as acall, not only a call to action.
(55:30):
It's a matter of urgency. Weneed to bring some urgency to this
because it's a crisis. We're losingtoo many children. And to the parents
and guardians out there, you areresponsible for your young people, for your
teens. Please lock up your gun, Please story a gun, get a
gun locked, get more information.The important thing is that we save lives,
(55:54):
We save children. Our research isall ready shown that we love lock
of our guns, when we storethem, when we keep them unloaded and
locked, secured and not accessible,that we do save lives. And that's
about all I can say that thisis something preventable, but it takes all
(56:15):
of us working together, the community, everyone putting this message out, and
it is a matter of urgency.We've gone past just having casual conversation about
it. This is an urgent matterand we need to take care of it,
and we need to make sure thatour kids and our young people are
safe. We thank Deputy Chief Andrewsfor her leadership and guidance on the Lock
(56:37):
It and Stored campaign. We'll hearmore from her over the next several weeks.
And now a special message from bIN President Tony Coles. I'm Tony
Coles, President of the Black InformationNetwork. Through lock In and Store It,
BI aims to raise awareness about theimportance of gun safety in preventing unintentional
shootings, which claim the lives ofdoes of black children each year. Lock
(57:01):
In and Store It encourages gun ownersto always lock and securely store their weapons
so young children don't mistake them fortoys and unintentionally enter themselves or someone else.
BI will air special reports and newsfeatures explaining the role we all can
play in protecting our children from thesepreventable tragedies. Share your thoughts and concerns
(57:23):
about gun safety on the BI TalkbackLive portal on the iHeartRadio app and join
us in spreading the word. Ifyou know a gun owner, encourage them
to always lock and store their firearms. Doing so could save a life.
BI is dedicated to helping keep allmembers of our community safe. Learn more
(57:44):
at binnews dot com. OHI thankyou for joining us for this week's edition
of the Black Perspective Mike Island.We'll be back next week. As always,
we look forward to keeping you informedthroughout the week. Be sure to
follow us on Facebook, Instagram,TikTok, and threads of Black and Information
Network and on exit. Black InfoNet also will go on to be allrnews
dot com and listen to us onthe iHeartRadio app for the latest news and
(58:07):
information impacting the Black community. I'mAndrea Coleman and this is a Black Information
Network, the Black Information Network andsix time Emmy nominated news anchor Vanessa Tyler
welcome you to black Land, apodcast about the ground on which the Black
community stands right now. From storiesabout salvation and loss, I loved a
(58:29):
person who had an a Chrevy diagnosis, The dreams achieved or yet unfulfilled from
people who have made it. Isat down with a therapist and I began
my journey to those left behind.Listen to black Land on the iHeartRadio app
or wherever you get your podcasts.Pin your hands behind your back. In
twenty twenty three, a Black InformationNetwork news anchor created a piece of journalism
(58:52):
so powerful, and he was murderedin his own home. It's being recognized
by the Alliance for Women in Media. Congratulations to Esther Dillard for her twenty
twenty four Gracie Award winning series Black, Autistic and Safe. Check out the
series now at binnews dot com.The largest civil rights conference is coming to
(59:17):
New Orleans this summer, the NationalUrban League Conference July twenty fourth through the
twenty seventh at the Highest Regency,New Orleans. Register today at nulconference dot
org. Don't miss the nation's leadingbusiness, political and community leaders, influencers,
and celebrities as they all meet upfrom the twenty fourth through the twenty
seventh downtown at the Hyde Regency,New Orleans. Don't wait. Register today
(59:42):
at nulconference dot org.
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