Continuing the conversation for healing and unity
(Part 2) Taking a stand against injustice and creating real change“Let’s create not only some healing here but some real change. … Change is automatic, but progress is not. And so this is a conversation today to see if we can create some progress. … What this is really about is getting to what we can do to tap into unity, and love, and compassion, and connection to one another. What can we do to move forward?”
– Tony Robbins
Description: The conversation continues. In this 2-hour episode, Tony hosts a panel of five cross-generational leaders who share their unique experience of what it is to be Black in America today. Themes include the importance of listening to others, especially those who may have opinions, beliefs, experiences, or political leanings different than our own. This episode’s guests lend their voice to what we, as a unified society, need to do, in order to understand, unite, and make progress — together — by tapping into love, compassion, and our deep connection to one another.
The Conversation: It’s been over three months since George Floyd was killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis. The incident has reignited a centuries-long conversation around race in the United States and the injustices that African Americans can face. You’ll hear guests reference the murder of a 14-year-old Emmett Till, whose killers were acquitted on September 23, 1955 — 65 years to the date of the recent ruling on the shooting death of 26-year-old, Breonna Taylor, in Louisville. The aftermath of these and combined stacking of Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, and Trayvon Martin, to name a few, has brought this nation to a galvanized threshold. With thousands of people around the world in grief, humanity is speaking loud and clear. The time is now to create progress rooted in our nation’s foundation of ‘justice for all.’ As Tony said in the first episode of this special two-part interview series, change is automatic – but progress is not.
“If love is not yet won, the battle is not yet over.” – Martin Luther King III
Click here to listen to Part 1 of this 2-Part series.
The first episode of panelists included Martin Luther King III, Coach Doc Rivers, an LAPD officer, and seven other special guests.
Part 2 Guests:
Charlamagne tha God (Radio show host, author, influencer)
Rev. Jesse Jackson (Civil rights activist, former aide to Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Barbara Becnel (Journalist, film producer, prison reform advocate)
Van Jones (Author, television host)
Derrick Johnson (President and CEO of the NAACP)
Charlamagne tha God
Radio show host, author, influencer
Charlamagne is a profound voice in today’s culture (Twitter: @cthagod). His popular nationally syndicated radio show, “The Breakfast Club,” averages over 4.5 million weekly listeners. He has recently partnered with iHeartMedia to launch The Black Effect Podcast Network, with the goal of bringing together the most influential voices in black culture for stimulating conversations around social justice, pop culture, sports, mental health, news, comedy and more. He is the author of the NYT’s bestseller, “Black Privilege: Opportunities Come to Those Who Create It”, and “Shook One” which has helped him become a leading voice in the mental health discussion.
Jesse Jackson
Civil rights activist, former aide to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rev. Jesse Jackson is an American civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician, running for U.S. president twice, and elected Senator of Washington, D.C. in 1991. His work began as a former aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 1964. Rev. Jackson founded Operation PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity) in 1971 and the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984. Over the past 40 years, he has been called the “Conscience of the Nation” and “the Great Unifier” receiving more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees and lecture invitations from institutions including Yale, Howard, Princeton, Morehouse, Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford.
Barbara Becnel
Journalist, film producer, prison reform advocate
Barbara Becnel stands as a shining example of the power of personal story when it comes to the fight against injustice. She was a close friend and long-time advocate for executed Crips co-founder, Stanley “Tookie” Williams. She served as the editor of Williams’s series of children’s books and co-produced the powerful biopic, Redemption: The Tookie Story, starring Jamie Foxx. Barbara was the first Black female to run for Governor of California under the Democratic Party nomination in 2006.
Van Jones
Author, television host
Van is a CNN political contributor and the host of the Van Jones Show and The Redemption Project. He is a non-practicing attorney and CEO of Reform Alliance — a nonprofit whose mission is to significantly reduce the number of people unjustly under the control of the criminal justice system. Van is a three-time NYT best-selling author whose reach transcends age, race, geography and political ideology.
Derrick Johnson
President and CEO of the NAACP
Derrick is a longstanding member of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Founded in 1909, it is America’s largest civil rights organization. He was unanimously elected president of the association in 2017, guiding it through a period of re-envisioning and reinvigoration. Additionally, he is the founder and executive director of One Voice, Inc., a non-profit conceived in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to enhance the quality of life for African Americans through civic engagement training and initiatives.
EPISODE NOTES
[00:00:00] Tony introduces episode
[00:00:22] This conversation is continued from Part 1
[00:01:08] Tony introduces the panel
[00:01:46] Van Jones, author, CNN show host
[00:02:26] Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist
[00:03:04] Barbara Becnel, filmmaker, journalist, prison reform activist
[00:04:50] Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of NAACP
[00:05:22] Charlamagne Tha God, national radio host, author
[00:06:11] Tony’s opening monologue
[00:07:22] We had a police officer on the panel in Part 1 …
[00:08:37] Tony begins his interview with Van Jones
[00:09:04] Van Jones’ upbringing in rural West Tennessee
[00:09:44] Van Jones’ mother and father
[00:11:46] A miracle is happening today: some common ground
[00:12:52] “Revolution requires a change of heart”
[00:13:39] We have to learn how to help each other
[00:14:21] Do your homework, educate yourself
[00:15:24] The New Jim Crow and documentary Eyes on the Prize
[00:16:13] Race relations in this country are as complex as Russian
[00:16:46] “The mindset of empathy”
[00:17:44] If you’re black, you have to code-switch all the time
[00:18:12] Develop the skillset of deep listening
[00:19:26] “Equality of discomfort”
[00:19:46] Tony recalls conversation with TD Jakes on white privilege
[00:21:22] Van on what it’s like being a father of Black boys today
[00:21:50] RE: talking to kids about race video
[00:22:39] “Art of War, Sun Tzu stuff”
[00:23:26] Kids are always listening
[00:24:11] The one word kids all understand
[00:25:13] Tony begins his interview with Jesse Jackson
[00:25:56] Going to jail for using the public library
[00:26:12] Jackson’s first experience with race
[00:27:16] The God Factor in this historic moment
[00:27:24] One man’s last breath breathed into the whole human race
[00:28:04] COVID-19 stopped the world
[00:28:27] Fear is on other side of the wall between people
[00:28:38] The transparency of football’s rules
[00:29:31] We’ve come a long way since Emmett Till
[00:29:56] America’s original sin is Native American genocide
[00:30:45] “We were born in sin, shaped in inequity”
[00:31:02] Laws change our behavior
[00:31:57] Make lynching a federal crime
[00:32:33] Slavery vs. Apartheid
[00:33:05] This is not just about police it’s about industry
[00:33:43] Baking apartheid is …
[00:34:27] You can’t charge a crime if there isn’t legislation for it
[00:35:30] Laquan McDonald in Chicago
[00:36:05] Laws affect our behavior
[00:36:16] “The God Factor in this”
[00:37:28] MLK Jr. and Aretha Franklin in 1967
[00:37:55] What the crisis of 2020 has given America
[00:38:21] We have the most representation in congress ever
[00:38:36] “God can speak to us from the grave”
[00:39:48] Rules matter. Law matters.
[00:40:13] Tony on this moment of grace
[00:40:41] “God can use the pain and bring about power.” -JJ
[00:40:52] George Floyd and biblical breath, “pneuma”
[00: 41:44] Tony begins interview with Barbara Becnel
[00:42:11] Barbara meets Stanley Tookie Williams
[00:43:21] Stanley asks Barbara to help him write children’s books
[00:44:00] Human judgements and projections
[00:45:28] 13 years of friendship
[00:45:44] Tony works with Barbara to save Tookie from death row
[00:46:59] Barbara stands tall for Stanley
[00:48:04] The state of Calif. executes Stanley Tookie Williams
[00:50:06] “I learned a tremendous amount from Stan”
[00:51:22] The social contract
[00:52:30] Rev. is right, rules determine the winner
[00:54:29] Tony remembers his friend, Tookie
[00:55:08] Transformation from violence to peace
[00:55:58] Solitary confinement and IQ tests
[00:57:59] Tookie evaluates his life… and children’s books
[00:59:13] Tony recalls speaking at Tookie’s funeral in South Central
[1:00:20] Tony begins interview with Derrick Johnson
[1:00:25] “Join us on this journey of understanding and overcoming.”
[1:00:58] Derrick: Growing up in Detroit in the 80s
[1:01:21] Rev. Jackson speech: patches in a quilt of society
[1:02:12] College in Mississippi and afro-centricity
[1:03:27] Working on Capitol Hill to change systems
[1:04:18] Reaching across communities and partisan lines
[1:05:00] “Political parties are nothing more than vehicles for agendas”
[1:06:09] When democracy is strong it holds capital in check
[1:08:01] “Our collective currency is the power in this democracy”
[1:09:08] Learn from the arc of history
[1:10:26] A juncture and an opportunity
[1:11:14] Are we going to allow people to politicize this movement?
[01:12:17] Starsky and Hutch
[01:12:49] A different kind of relationship with law enforcement
[01:13:10] Realigning our police with communities
[01:13:55] “We have to move from protest to power”
[01:14:09] Tony on the stacking for decades
[01:14:47] Why the NAACP does not enforce defunding police
[01:15:11] This moment has stirred up energy
[01:16:38] Last 30 years, crime has gone down, not up
[01:17:18] Police used to be your neighbors, not a stranger
[01:18:01] Police used to live in the community they served
[01:19:16] Tony: We need connection and consequence
[01:19:32] Tony begins interview with Charlamagne tha God
[01:19:50] Raising 3 daughters
[01:20:26] Emotional, mental, and spiritual exhaustion of this time
[01:21:28] How much is too much trauma for children to hear?
[01:22:17] “There’s no way I can look at George Floyd and not see myself”
[01:23:13] “Blackanoia”
[01:24:13] Resources to support the mental health of the Black community
[01:25:29] “I’m feeling a range of emotions right now.”
[01:26:09] Charlamagne’s conversations with 11-year-old daughter
[01:27:00] “It’s an honor to be black.”
[01:27:41] Tony speaks to his passion for suicide prevention
[01:28:24] How did you come to make the shift from selling drugs?
[01:29:07] Growing up in a trailer in South Carolina
[01:30:38] CTG on Jehovah’s Witnesses
[01:31:19] Mom’s lesson: Read things that don’t pertain to you
[01:31:37] Intelligent kid in a fanny pack and glasses
[01:32:24] If you can’t beat them, join them.
[01:33:33] Jail, dead, or broke sitting under the tree
[01:34:20] CTG receives a vision for his future: An internship
[01:35:02] Control the media, control the minds of the masses
[01:35:26] Rachetness and Righteousness
[01:36:09] Tony on finding your mission and your grace
[01:36:38] Why did Charlamagne spoke to Rush Limbaugh
[01:37:23] Tony on Part 1 of this episode series
[01:38:21] Charlamagne on intentionality and reaching white people
[01:41:06] “God is giving America a chance to do the right thing”
[01:42:12] Tony on voting at all levels, even when we aren’t enthralled
[01:42:52] An old school southern brother who still believes in God.
[01:44:59] Tony: “Unity is a fancy word for love”
[01:45:32] Van Jones: A request for more curiosity
[01:46:17] “Wisdom accumulates at the bottom”
[01:47:28] Rev. Jesse Jackson on lynchings across our nation
[01:48:40] Derrick Johnson: If racism remains, we’re all in the ditch
[01:50:08] Barbara Becnel on our epistemic dilemma
[01:51:30] “It’s time for white folks to know something about us”
[01:51:49] Tony thanks his guests
[01:53:05] Charlamagne is keeping the hope alive
[01:54:29] Tony offers a final message on moving forward