August 11, 2023 • 34 mins
Ed talks with actor, author, and businessman Hill Harper. They talk about Harper’s decision to throw his hat in the ring and run for the U.S. Senate. They also talk about the overall state of politics, the 2024 election and why his decision to became a candidate was motivated, in part, by his young son’s future.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:22):
Welcome to the latest edition of one hundred The Ed
Gordon Podcast. Today a conversation with actor, author, philanthropist, and
businessman Hill Harper, And if that weren't enough, the award
winning actor has entered the political arena. A longtime high
profile Democratic supporter, Harper decided to throw his hat in
(00:43):
the ring and run for the vacated US Senate seed
in Michigan. While the star of television CSI and The
Good Doctor came in with a very famous name and face.
Politics is an entirely different arena. That's where we started.
I opened with the questions so many are asking, successful actor, author, businessman,
(01:07):
with the state of politics today, why jump in you, Ed?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I can't sit on the sidelines anymore and watch what's
happening in our country.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
To our politics to people.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
There's so many people I talk to on a daily
basis that don't feel like they're being represented in any
material way. They don't feel like the federal government has
their best interests in mind. And being here in Michigan
for the last seven years, I've realized that there's been
a wonderful movement in the state of Michigan.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Many of you.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Either know that Lansing is the state capital, and we
have a triple Blue leadership there and they've seen material
movements and issues that matter. And folks don't feel that
way about federal government. The middle class in particular, feels
like it's getting wheezed. They don't they earn too much
to qualify for the earned income earned income.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Tax credit benefits.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
And then they see billionaires getting all these loopholes where
they end up paying a de facto tax that's less
than them, and they're like, well, where do we fit
and why isn't someone in the federal government actually representing
our best interests.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Then they see something like.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Ed the congressional members investments outperform the SMP consistently, and
they're like, hold on, we pay their salary through our taxes.
They spend four to six hours a day raising money
on the taxpayer's dome. And then they can trade stocks
based on inside information. But if we traded stocks based
(02:41):
on inside information, we would go to go to prison.
They just know that things aren't stacking up, and in
a way that's meaningful and supportive of them. And I'm
one of them, you know, I'm one of those folks
that feels that way, and I couldn't sit on the silence.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
You said something that I think is important. I don't
want to just brush right by it because I remember
when Hillary Clinton ran for the Senate in New York,
there were whispers of carpetbagger. And you know, people will
associate you even though you're from the Midwest originally. I
don't think a lot of people know you were born
in Iowa. But you know, people will associate you with
(03:18):
California or New York. But you have been here for
seven years. Talk to me about what drew you to Michigan.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
No, and you know this already, so I laughed, saying,
there is nobody like the people who live here, particularly
in Southeast Michigan.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Nobody.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And I've tried to explain what there used to be
a tax spreadit here that was creating real jobs, creating
union jobs here, and that's what brought me here in
the first place. Folks have to understand that what happens
with an actor's profession is that you have a home base,
(04:00):
but you go all over the place to work. And
you know, I came here to work and there were
a lot of films being shot here because there was
a media tax credit much like is in Georgia, much
like what it used to be in Louisiana, and like
it's in Canada. So if you think about where you
work the most as an actor, it's either Georgia, it
(04:22):
used to be Louisiana, and then Canada, and was Michigan
when there was this tax credit. And I met some
of the most wonderful people and people who started to
become my best friends in the world.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And they would say, Man, you got to move here,
at least get a house here or do something. And
I planted a seat in my head that I.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Said, when I have a child, I want to raise
that child here because I would like that child to
turn out more like the folks from here than the
folks from Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
And as you know, I adopted my son.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
He was born December ninth, teens twenty fifteen, and I
started looking for a house here and I bought a
house here in twenty sixteen, and then ended up investing
in buying a business because I do believe in job creation.
I believe in in creating. The coffee shop is special
to me because I believe coffee is community. It brings
(05:19):
people together. So having a coffee shop where young people
could learn a skill that they could travel anywhere in
the world and do, get paid a true living wage,
and also have a place that's about community. So I
got the Roasting Plant downtown Detroit. It's been the best
decision I've made, you know, outside of adopting my son,
the best decision I've made, because it's the best.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
The best people in the world are here.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And somebody tried to They tried to get me, like,
tell me what it is, tell me what it is.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
And this is where I explained it to them. I've
lived in many.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Places, two of those cities you just mentioned where folks
have two out of these three things I'm going to say,
but I've never been to a place where they have
all three out of three.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And here are the three things.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
The people here have a level of grit and backbone
and strength that I think is unmatched. There is also
this deep sense of soul and creativity that is uh,
just sort of runs through how they move and just
how you present.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yourself and just what people how people enjoy things.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
And then third, there's a kindness here that's almost like
that old Southern you know, Grandmama, Come on here, babe,
have a lemonade, kindness, and and so I've been a
place that have two of those three.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
For instance, Brooklyn, you got people, got backbone, and people
got sold. But it ain't nobody inviting you in for
a lemonade.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And then you go to California and somebody will invite
you in for a lavender lemonade and to do yoga.
And then they and then they they have creativity for sure,
but you don't get a sense that that there's like
this sense of backbone and being able to grit is
probably the best word. And and I want my son
(07:05):
to have grit and backbone. I want my son to
have a sense of creativity and soul, and I want
him to be kind. And I think that if you
grow up in this environment, in this area, in Michigan
in general, you're going to get that. And it's not
just Southeast Fisigan, you know, because as I've been here
these last seven years, being able to go up to
Traverse City, take my son up to the Great Wolf Lodge,
(07:27):
being able to go up to the Upper Peninsula and
Mackinaw and and and even going and Middland. In different places,
there are people who are just kind.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Good, hard working people. So it's been it's been a
it's been a blessing.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
I want to ask you about, you know, going up
against UH an opponent a list of a list of
slock and we should note that Debbie Stabinaw, who held
the seat that you're vuying for UH, is vacating, it
is stepping away.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
UH.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
You're running against someone you're you're who is well established
with the democratic machine. She is Some would say kind
of middle of the road, some would say right left.
If you will give me a sense of, you know,
you being new to politics by means of running, because
(08:16):
you're certainly not new to politics per se, but as
a candidate and running up against someone who has to
heretofore the machine behind them.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yes, so a couple things.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Let me preface what I'm going to say by first
saying this is an open seat Democratic primary, and the
proper thing for everyone to do is to stay out
of the way. Yet to your point, the democratic establishment hasn't.
Now I don't want to just talk about that candidate,
(08:56):
because since it is an open seat, I think it'd
be disrespectful for me to speak about that candidate.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
There's there are other candidate myriad of other candidates.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
It's a year away, and.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
For me, I can't speak since I have had a
conversation with with the Congresswoman per Se, I don't know
if she welcome that that so called establishment lean in
or not.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So I in many ways, she may even think it's
a disservice.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
To her, you know, because there are a lot of
people who don't like the idea of d C picking
Michigan's next senator. So so I can't even speak about that.
What I can speak about, though, is what Michiganders tell me,
And everywhere I go across the state, they tell me
(09:54):
that they want to have a true open seat and
and and a true debate about what values they want
to see represented by whoever.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Wins that seat. And that's what I'm welcoming.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I'm welcoming a true conversation about what real representation looks like,
and also a conversation ed and I think this is
the most important piece of the conversation, a conversation about
why the largest voting block in Michigan is people who
don't vote, and why.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Have we lost those people?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Why have they become so disillusioned with democracy and representation
that they don't feel like they matter, they don't feel
like their votes matter, and they don't.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Feel like who gets elected actually matters.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And to me, the establishment and certainly the Democratic Party,
in my opinion, should spend more time worrying about getting
people back in who have chosen to check out than
trying to put the fix in and lean in on
an open seat primary. You know, at the end of
(11:05):
the day, though, Michigans are going to have the ability
to choose what type of representation and what type of
representative they want, and I'm welcoming that opportunity because I
believe that many folks, once they get to understand me,
understand who I am. They take a look at my
receipts in my past and my background, they know that
(11:29):
I value representing people first and not putting government first,
not putting a big corporate interests first, not putting lobbyists first,
not putting.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Special interests first. I want to put people first.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
And that's what I've done throughout my career and why
I do what I do, and that's why I'm actually running.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
You have a distinct advantage over someone who is throwing
their hat in the ring for the first time, and
that is that you are a known commodity, so to speak.
So you come to the table with name recognition. But
I'm curious how you will do this. And the person
that we all know did it supremely so is a
genuine friend of yours, and that is Barack Obama. The
(12:12):
idea when you look across state elections in this country
black people, I think most people would be surprised that
we just still don't fare in the way we should
when it goes statewide. So, now, not only do you
have to balance the liberal conservative bent of politics, you
(12:33):
have to balance the racial bent. You're in a state
that is liberal and a portion of it, but a
great majority of this state is conservative. So give me
a sense of dealing with that balancing act.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Well, well, you know, it's almost you almost understate the
challenge here.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
That we're facing out.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I'll I'll just give some data points that, hopefully to
the listener and the viewer, is going to be shocking.
There have been two thousand and two US Senators in
the history of this country, and only eleven have been
(13:21):
African American or black. And what makes this challenge even
more momentous is that only three out of those eleven.
Actually we're elected on cycle through the traditional process of
what I'm attempting to do, which is a traditional primary
(13:41):
and a traditional November general election. The other eight out
of those three were either appointed first to the seat
or won the seat through a special election first. And
so obviously there's much bigger challenge when it's a general
cycle because the weight of the establishment can sort of
(14:04):
throw itself in in a completely different way when it's
expected and on cycle, as opposed to a quickly put
together special election or in any even quicker appointment. So
it is a big challenge. So three out of two
thousand and two in the history of this country, I
have done what I'm attempting to do, which actually is
(14:27):
a lower percentage than the number of US black US
presidents there have been. So that's about two point two
percent of the US presidents have been African American and
less than point five percent have been elected senators. So
it's a massive challenge. So let's just say so, if
we're able to do this, it will be historic, and
(14:48):
it will also be historic from the context for the
first time in fifty seven years in Michigan, Michigan does
not have a black Democratic representative in Congress at all,
and that's the first time in.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Fifty seven years.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
So in many ways, the idea of representation in Michigan
as far as diversity has taken a massive step backwards.
So if we're able to overcome that and push forward,
it's going to be huge.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
How do we do that? And you know, I believe
the way we.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Do it is to speak to people, meet them where
they are, and to talk common sense language. Just like
we talked about at the beginning of this. I believe
if you get sick, you should have a right to
having quality, comprehensive health care and not have to do
the thing that causes The number one cause of personal
bankruptcies is medical. One third of the money raised on
(15:41):
go fundme is medical. Go fund me is not a
health plan, It can't be a health plund Yet we're
putting everyday citizens who pay tax dollars in a situation
where they have to choose between health care and putting
food on their family or filing for bankruptcy. That's not right,
and I think generally most Michiganders agree with that. No
(16:01):
matter what your race, I think the majority of Michiganders
are want common sense representation, and so what does that
look like. It means, like I just said, if you
get sick, you deserve to have a doctor without going
into bankruptcip go and go fund me.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
If you send your kids to.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
School, you should believe like I sent Pierce to school
soon second grade.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Send him there. I want to have a belief that
he's not one.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Experiencing mental trauma by having all of these series of
mass shooter training drills.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Just think about it.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
I was talking to somebody this is home we were
talking about, and said, Okay, when you're in your house,
are you telling your kid get under the covers the
shooter could come and this is what you're going to do. No,
you're not doing that because it's traumatic and you want
the home to feel safe, you want school to feel safe.
These kids actually spend more time at school in many
ways and they spend at home.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
And so we haven't been able.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
To take on a billion dollar gun lobby and the
in to the extent that I believe we should because
many ways, many of folks who represent us, they're more
interested in staying in office than doing what is the
right thing to do, which is fight back, ban weapons
of mass murder. And so that's another example, and we
can go on and on strong unions. We haven't been
(17:19):
able to pass the pro Act. We're seeing unions getting
crushed left and right. We know labor and unions are
a critical piece of our economy in the middle class.
Yet we haven't passed the pro Act. We haven't passed
the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. So as a Senator,
I'm willing to be the fifty first vote to end
the filibuster and get things like the Proact pass get
things like the John Lewis Voting Right passed, and get
(17:41):
the ban on weapons of mass murder. These are just,
I think, things that Michiganders agree with me on and
want to see someone fighting.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Give me a sense because you know there will be
those who will listen to you. And to your point
is this goes beyond if you are to win this seat,
just represent any Michigan. You know, the numbers are so
so thin in the Senate that every vote is important.
When you think about the attack on diversity that we're
(18:12):
seeing now, the attack on a woman's right to choose,
you know, all of the hot button issues, the question
just the environment of race in this country. You know,
we just saw the incident in Montgomery that raised again
the specter of how, you know, far off we are
and really being cohesive as as a nation. Give me
(18:36):
a sense of what you would like to do from
that seat in helping heal the divide. What you know.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
You remind me with this question of Tiger's opening day
this year, It was the weather was great, everybody was excited.
You go out there and you have have all of
these folks that are there at the same time to tailgate.
They're there for the same team, but you had groups
(19:09):
of white folks tailgating and groups of black folks tailgating.
And I got kind of down about it, to be honest,
ed because nobody was mixing.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
They're eating the same food, drinking the same beers.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
But somehow we've gotten it into the zeitgeist that we
don't have enough in common to just talk and so and.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
It is it's wrong. I mean, this is brown versus
border Vadication was nineteen fifty four.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And I was actually talking to Smoking Robinson the other
day who endorsed me.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Thank god, thank you Smoking for that endorsement.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And he said, Hill, I feel like it's more segregated
now through de facto segregation than we had when it
was Jim Crow and things like that, because simply, you know,
he was like, folks used to get together talk and
they talk on.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
The side and be like, hey, man's going on. We
don't even say.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
What's going on to each other anymore, And that is
a sh And I want to represent this simple fact.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I've grown up with diversity. Where I went to college,
where I went to grad school, where I grew up
and went to high school.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
All of these things were about celebrating goodness in humans
and humanity more so than how much melanin someone hasn't
or doesn't have. And the fact that we've politicized and listen,
let's be clear, the history of race in this country
goes so far back and continues, but there has to
(20:36):
be a point where we say, we have so much
more in common to work for and work together to
make this world better. And the idea that someone was
selling this country, this concept that a lot of people
bought into make America great again, rather than the best
version of America is ahead of us.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
And that's really what I want to talk about.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
What if the best version of America look like if
it is in fact ahead of us, and I believe
it is.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
And that's why one of the things we talk about
is believe in better.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
We say believe in better, because unless we start to
believe that we can make America much better than it's
ever been, then we won't do the work.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
To make it so.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
And it's going to take work. And I'm willing to
talk to anybody who has a good idea. I'm willing
to talk to anybody, no matter where they're from what
they do. And you're right at this Senate seat is
a national seat. It's a fifty to fifty Senate, and
it so goes Michigan, so goes to the country. Whoever
wins Michigan in this presidential cycle is going to win
(21:37):
the presidents.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
You know, That's just it. And it's been that way historically.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
What do you tell people who say a black progressive
Democrat first time or cannot win in the environment that
we see not only in Michigan but in the nation today.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
It's just absolutely patently false if you actually look at
the fact that so many people don't vote, you know,
and if they were to say the only way no
Harper can win is to get people who normally don't
vote in a democratic primary to turn out in big numbers,
I would say, you're absolutely right. So if I can't
(22:23):
actually touch a chord in terms of hearts and minds
and make sure that we're communicating with real people that
want to actually I believe, participate but don't feel like
there's any reason to.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
If we're able to do that, then we're able to actually.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Win something, but also do something even bigger, which is
get more people back engaged, reengaged. And what starts to
happen at is I believe it's kind of like the
reverse mirror effect of what happened with the forty fifth president.
If you saw what happened there, he was able to
to speak to people's hearts and minds and me became
(23:04):
unbeatable in a primary context because he was having so
many people vote that ordinarily wouldn't vote in a primary
and he was the anti establishment candidate. But what happened
the ripple effect, was so many other candidates that followed
the same method, methodology, and sentiment were able to run
and win all over the country. I believe that if
(23:27):
we're able to do this here, we can share the
blueprint and start a wave that starts with empathy, starts
with progression, and starts with love, starts with actual common
sense values. And we can see that type of wave
start to build where candidates become almost unbeatable if they
are espousing the same type of progressive values that I'm
(23:48):
talking about. And the labels bother me a little bit
because in many ways you say, Hill, yes, you're the
most progressive candidate in this race.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
That is true.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
But also when people hear me talk about the way
I see small businesses in economic development, there was a
Republican that said, man, I'm going to support you because
you're absolutely right, small businesses are the economic engine of
any community. And the fact that you drive around many
of the most struggling communities in Michigan and you know
that no one from those communities owns any of the
(24:20):
commerce centers in those areas. We have to We can
spend trillions of dollars bailing out banks, but we can't
bail out small entrepreneurs and communities that will actually create
jobs in those places. Side. You sound like a Republican,
you know, And so it's not about Republican Democrat progressive
conservative liberals. This it's about common sense, good ideas and
(24:43):
what's going to help people.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So it should be in theory. You're right, it should
be in theory. But it really is about that. And
that leads me to the last point, and that is
you and I have done many many interviews over the
years that I've known you, and part of what I
always talked about is that you were very intentional with
the roles that you took and putting African American men
(25:07):
in particular in a positive light. With those roles, you know,
you look at the other side of the aisle. Then
you sit those who are running for the presidency, and
I think about the negative nature that Trump has led
them to. And quite frankly, there is a negative back
(25:29):
and forth on both sides of the isle if we're fair,
but certainly not to the extent that Trump has brought
to common everyday politics today. How can you stay positive
with the environment the nature of the body politic today?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Again, it's not getting pulled into false debates and quite frankly,
you know, not reading Twitter, you know, and we're gonna
be brass tacks. I went on Twitter the other day
and I was like, oh my god, if I read
this I would become cynical and bitter and and be upset.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
I can't let that, you know, sort of.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Inculcate my psyche, because my magic is positivity. My magic
has been we are better than we can believe in better.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
We can do these things together. And if I start to.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Flip over to cynicism, vitriol, division, negativity, then they've won.
And I believe it's different, and it's and what's so
crazy about is I believe you can.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Be a warrior in being positive.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Meaning it's not pollyannish, it's not it's not about being
a pushover.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
And it's not about saying Kumbaya, everything's okay, we're gonna
love everybody.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
No, it's about saying, I'm gonna fight for people, but
I'm gonna fight for the best of people and.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Then the best nature.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I don't have to tear somebody down to fight for somebody,
and that's the difference. I don't have to stay on
top of somebody's head just to elevate myself. I believe
we can bring enough people along that we elevate each other.
And that's the fundamental idea of not getting sucked into
that negative nature. Even within the context of a democratic primary,
where you would think that that would be true.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
But you know what I'm realizing is I'm seeing people tell.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Lies about me as soon as I announced that we're
patently false, just because they believe it's going to create
some type of competitive advantage for them.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
And and I'm not going to do that. I'm not
going to do that at all. How can I How
can I do that?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
My son is sitting right here listening to this interview.
How can I How can I represent to him that
I want him to be the best version of a
human and always be positive and support other people if
I didn't act that way. And that goes back to
your point about the roles. I chose, roles that I
believe and projects that I believe up upped our human conditions,
(28:15):
particularly as you look at us in our community, and
if there were projects that tore us down there.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
I can name a number of roles that you well
know that if I would have done.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Those roles, I'd probably be a lot richer and a
lot more famous. But they didn't fit right. And that's
why I think about somebody like Chadwick Boseman. I think
about Chadwick Boseman all the time.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
You know, I knew him.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Before he was Black Panther, before all of that. He
guest starred on CSI New York in two thousand and five,
and he was resolute about the type of artist he
was and the type of elevation he wants to have.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
And just think about that.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
We're having a podcast now talking about politics, and he's
still in my mind.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
And it shows you if you do.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Things in that level of integrity, you do things the
right way.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
There's a legacy piece involved in that.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Lastly, the idea of entertainers actors in politics is not new.
Perhaps most famous and certainly highest seat Ronald Reagan. Yeah,
you know, but I'm curious which road you're going to take.
You know, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan stopped with their
acting when they jumped in. But I think about someone
like Fred Thompson, who people may not know the name immediately,
(29:31):
but as soon as you saw that face you would know.
But continue to a far less degree, obviously, but continue
to dip his toe in the water and act while
while he was, you know, holding a seat. Which will
we see from you if you're less to have the seat.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
But you know, the most famous actor right now that's
leading is Vladimir Zelenski and so you know, people I
always try to I try to remind people of him
because you know, he's doing all.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Right, you know, and he was a comedian comedian, so
so who knows.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
I mean, this is my life as I see it,
for the next seven years. It'll take one year hopefully
to win and then six years sitting in a seat
that we won, minimum, And so for the next seven years,
(30:31):
this is this is my life, and you know, at
a minimum. But at the end of the day, giving
having people give you the permission to represent them is
such an awesome, awesome permission. And I've always thought about that,
for instance, when I was doing theater or when I
was doing a project where people had to buy a ticket,
(30:55):
you know, them deciding to come see you perform and
spend their home ordered money. They deserve the best, the
best they can get. And then the same thing for me,
if someone's going to give me their vote, they deserve
full time, twenty four to seven representation for me.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
And that's why. And I'll say it here.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Because I'm not sure if I've said this publicly that
I will not when I'm elected, be like all the
other members of Congress you at the House of Representatis
and the Senate who raise money on the people's time.
I will not raise a dime or make a funding
call between nine am and six pm because that's the
(31:40):
people's time. I should be meeting with constituents, I should
be doing office hours, I should be working on what's
represententation right now.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
And I was shocked, and many people don't realize this.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Four to six hours a day is what our representatives
spend raising money.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
On average. That's over five hundred thousand hours a year.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
And we wonder why the Congress does not get enough done.
That's why, and so campaign financial reform is necessary, not
raising money on the people's time as necessary, and truly
representing the people in a twenty four to seven capacity,
and that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Well, listen, man, we don't know what the outcome will be,
but I want to salute you for, you know, really
living your conviction, walking away from the dollars that you
were able to make and the fame that comes with
the you know, the road you've chosen is heavy stuff,
(32:38):
and to walk away and get into this really says
a lot about you. So good luck to you, my friend.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Thank you so much. I appreciated it.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
And let me just end with this Pierce's platform, which
I think is great. I just want to say that
if anything that we've said here holdovers, if anything that
we've said here resonates with you, this is a grassroots campaign.
We need grassroots support. We do not have the big
establishment behind us. So Hill Harper dot com. A dollar
(33:09):
makes a difference, two dollars makes a difference.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
We have to build it with more donors.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And folks that support this idea that grassroots campaigns can work.
And so I appreciate any support. Folks go to Hill
Harper dot com. Please support it and know that no
matter what amount it makes, it makes a real difference.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
And that's and that's real.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
I'm going to be very proud to be able to
stand up and say that I may not have raised
as much money as.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
My competitor or central competitors.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
But I have ten x more donors and that to
me is a more powerful statement than the actual dollar.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Now.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
One hundred is produced by Ed Gordon Media and distributed
by iHeartMedia, Carol Johnson Green and Shurie Weldon are our bookers.
Our editor is Lance Patton. Gerald Albright composed and performed
our theme. Please join me on Twitter and Instagram at
edel Gordon and on Facebook at ed Gordon Media
Welcome to the latest edition of one hundred The Ed
Gordon Podcast. Today a conversation with actor, author, philanthropist, and
businessman Hill Harper, And if that weren't enough, the award
winning actor has entered the political arena. A longtime high
profile Democratic supporter, Harper decided to throw his hat in
(00:43):
the ring and run for the vacated US Senate seed
in Michigan. While the star of television CSI and The
Good Doctor came in with a very famous name and face.
Politics is an entirely different arena. That's where we started.
I opened with the questions so many are asking, successful actor, author, businessman,
(01:07):
with the state of politics today, why jump in you, Ed?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I can't sit on the sidelines anymore and watch what's
happening in our country.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
To our politics to people.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
There's so many people I talk to on a daily
basis that don't feel like they're being represented in any
material way. They don't feel like the federal government has
their best interests in mind. And being here in Michigan
for the last seven years, I've realized that there's been
a wonderful movement in the state of Michigan.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Many of you.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Either know that Lansing is the state capital, and we
have a triple Blue leadership there and they've seen material
movements and issues that matter. And folks don't feel that
way about federal government. The middle class in particular, feels
like it's getting wheezed. They don't they earn too much
to qualify for the earned income earned income.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Tax credit benefits.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
And then they see billionaires getting all these loopholes where
they end up paying a de facto tax that's less
than them, and they're like, well, where do we fit
and why isn't someone in the federal government actually representing
our best interests.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Then they see something like.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Ed the congressional members investments outperform the SMP consistently, and
they're like, hold on, we pay their salary through our taxes.
They spend four to six hours a day raising money
on the taxpayer's dome. And then they can trade stocks
based on inside information. But if we traded stocks based
(02:41):
on inside information, we would go to go to prison.
They just know that things aren't stacking up, and in
a way that's meaningful and supportive of them. And I'm
one of them, you know, I'm one of those folks
that feels that way, and I couldn't sit on the silence.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
You said something that I think is important. I don't
want to just brush right by it because I remember
when Hillary Clinton ran for the Senate in New York,
there were whispers of carpetbagger. And you know, people will
associate you even though you're from the Midwest originally. I
don't think a lot of people know you were born
in Iowa. But you know, people will associate you with
(03:18):
California or New York. But you have been here for
seven years. Talk to me about what drew you to Michigan.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
No, and you know this already, so I laughed, saying,
there is nobody like the people who live here, particularly
in Southeast Michigan.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Nobody.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
And I've tried to explain what there used to be
a tax spreadit here that was creating real jobs, creating
union jobs here, and that's what brought me here in
the first place. Folks have to understand that what happens
with an actor's profession is that you have a home base,
(04:00):
but you go all over the place to work. And
you know, I came here to work and there were
a lot of films being shot here because there was
a media tax credit much like is in Georgia, much
like what it used to be in Louisiana, and like
it's in Canada. So if you think about where you
work the most as an actor, it's either Georgia, it
(04:22):
used to be Louisiana, and then Canada, and was Michigan
when there was this tax credit. And I met some
of the most wonderful people and people who started to
become my best friends in the world.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And they would say, Man, you got to move here,
at least get a house here or do something. And
I planted a seat in my head that I.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Said, when I have a child, I want to raise
that child here because I would like that child to
turn out more like the folks from here than the
folks from Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
And as you know, I adopted my son.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
He was born December ninth, teens twenty fifteen, and I
started looking for a house here and I bought a
house here in twenty sixteen, and then ended up investing
in buying a business because I do believe in job creation.
I believe in in creating. The coffee shop is special
to me because I believe coffee is community. It brings
(05:19):
people together. So having a coffee shop where young people
could learn a skill that they could travel anywhere in
the world and do, get paid a true living wage,
and also have a place that's about community. So I
got the Roasting Plant downtown Detroit. It's been the best
decision I've made, you know, outside of adopting my son,
the best decision I've made, because it's the best.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
The best people in the world are here.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
And somebody tried to They tried to get me, like,
tell me what it is, tell me what it is.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
And this is where I explained it to them. I've
lived in many.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Places, two of those cities you just mentioned where folks
have two out of these three things I'm going to say,
but I've never been to a place where they have
all three out of three.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
And here are the three things.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
The people here have a level of grit and backbone
and strength that I think is unmatched. There is also
this deep sense of soul and creativity that is uh,
just sort of runs through how they move and just
how you present.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yourself and just what people how people enjoy things.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
And then third, there's a kindness here that's almost like
that old Southern you know, Grandmama, Come on here, babe,
have a lemonade, kindness, and and so I've been a
place that have two of those three.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
For instance, Brooklyn, you got people, got backbone, and people
got sold. But it ain't nobody inviting you in for
a lemonade.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And then you go to California and somebody will invite
you in for a lavender lemonade and to do yoga.
And then they and then they they have creativity for sure,
but you don't get a sense that that there's like
this sense of backbone and being able to grit is
probably the best word. And and I want my son
(07:05):
to have grit and backbone. I want my son to
have a sense of creativity and soul, and I want
him to be kind. And I think that if you
grow up in this environment, in this area, in Michigan
in general, you're going to get that. And it's not
just Southeast Fisigan, you know, because as I've been here
these last seven years, being able to go up to
Traverse City, take my son up to the Great Wolf Lodge,
(07:27):
being able to go up to the Upper Peninsula and
Mackinaw and and and even going and Middland. In different places,
there are people who are just kind.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Good, hard working people. So it's been it's been a
it's been a blessing.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
I want to ask you about, you know, going up
against UH an opponent a list of a list of
slock and we should note that Debbie Stabinaw, who held
the seat that you're vuying for UH, is vacating, it
is stepping away.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
UH.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
You're running against someone you're you're who is well established
with the democratic machine. She is Some would say kind
of middle of the road, some would say right left.
If you will give me a sense of, you know,
you being new to politics by means of running, because
(08:16):
you're certainly not new to politics per se, but as
a candidate and running up against someone who has to
heretofore the machine behind them.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yes, so a couple things.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Let me preface what I'm going to say by first
saying this is an open seat Democratic primary, and the
proper thing for everyone to do is to stay out
of the way. Yet to your point, the democratic establishment hasn't.
Now I don't want to just talk about that candidate,
(08:56):
because since it is an open seat, I think it'd
be disrespectful for me to speak about that candidate.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
There's there are other candidate myriad of other candidates.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
And.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
It's a year away, and.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
For me, I can't speak since I have had a
conversation with with the Congresswoman per Se, I don't know
if she welcome that that so called establishment lean in
or not.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So I in many ways, she may even think it's
a disservice.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
To her, you know, because there are a lot of
people who don't like the idea of d C picking
Michigan's next senator. So so I can't even speak about that.
What I can speak about, though, is what Michiganders tell me,
And everywhere I go across the state, they tell me
(09:54):
that they want to have a true open seat and
and and a true debate about what values they want
to see represented by whoever.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Wins that seat. And that's what I'm welcoming.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I'm welcoming a true conversation about what real representation looks like,
and also a conversation ed and I think this is
the most important piece of the conversation, a conversation about
why the largest voting block in Michigan is people who
don't vote, and why.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Have we lost those people?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Why have they become so disillusioned with democracy and representation
that they don't feel like they matter, they don't feel
like their votes matter, and they don't.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Feel like who gets elected actually matters.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And to me, the establishment and certainly the Democratic Party,
in my opinion, should spend more time worrying about getting
people back in who have chosen to check out than
trying to put the fix in and lean in on
an open seat primary. You know, at the end of
(11:05):
the day, though, Michigans are going to have the ability
to choose what type of representation and what type of
representative they want, and I'm welcoming that opportunity because I
believe that many folks, once they get to understand me,
understand who I am. They take a look at my
receipts in my past and my background, they know that
(11:29):
I value representing people first and not putting government first,
not putting a big corporate interests first, not putting lobbyists first,
not putting.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Special interests first. I want to put people first.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
And that's what I've done throughout my career and why
I do what I do, and that's why I'm actually running.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
You have a distinct advantage over someone who is throwing
their hat in the ring for the first time, and
that is that you are a known commodity, so to speak.
So you come to the table with name recognition. But
I'm curious how you will do this. And the person
that we all know did it supremely so is a
genuine friend of yours, and that is Barack Obama. The
(12:12):
idea when you look across state elections in this country
black people, I think most people would be surprised that
we just still don't fare in the way we should
when it goes statewide. So, now, not only do you
have to balance the liberal conservative bent of politics, you
(12:33):
have to balance the racial bent. You're in a state
that is liberal and a portion of it, but a
great majority of this state is conservative. So give me
a sense of dealing with that balancing act.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Well, well, you know, it's almost you almost understate the
challenge here.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
That we're facing out.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I'll I'll just give some data points that, hopefully to
the listener and the viewer, is going to be shocking.
There have been two thousand and two US Senators in
the history of this country, and only eleven have been
(13:21):
African American or black. And what makes this challenge even
more momentous is that only three out of those eleven.
Actually we're elected on cycle through the traditional process of
what I'm attempting to do, which is a traditional primary
(13:41):
and a traditional November general election. The other eight out
of those three were either appointed first to the seat
or won the seat through a special election first. And
so obviously there's much bigger challenge when it's a general
cycle because the weight of the establishment can sort of
(14:04):
throw itself in in a completely different way when it's
expected and on cycle, as opposed to a quickly put
together special election or in any even quicker appointment. So
it is a big challenge. So three out of two
thousand and two in the history of this country, I
have done what I'm attempting to do, which actually is
(14:27):
a lower percentage than the number of US black US
presidents there have been. So that's about two point two
percent of the US presidents have been African American and
less than point five percent have been elected senators. So
it's a massive challenge. So let's just say so, if
we're able to do this, it will be historic, and
(14:48):
it will also be historic from the context for the
first time in fifty seven years in Michigan, Michigan does
not have a black Democratic representative in Congress at all,
and that's the first time in.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Fifty seven years.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
So in many ways, the idea of representation in Michigan
as far as diversity has taken a massive step backwards.
So if we're able to overcome that and push forward,
it's going to be huge.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
How do we do that? And you know, I believe
the way we.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Do it is to speak to people, meet them where
they are, and to talk common sense language. Just like
we talked about at the beginning of this. I believe
if you get sick, you should have a right to
having quality, comprehensive health care and not have to do
the thing that causes The number one cause of personal
bankruptcies is medical. One third of the money raised on
(15:41):
go fundme is medical. Go fund me is not a
health plan, It can't be a health plund Yet we're
putting everyday citizens who pay tax dollars in a situation
where they have to choose between health care and putting
food on their family or filing for bankruptcy. That's not right,
and I think generally most Michiganders agree with that. No
(16:01):
matter what your race, I think the majority of Michiganders
are want common sense representation, and so what does that
look like. It means, like I just said, if you
get sick, you deserve to have a doctor without going
into bankruptcip go and go fund me.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
If you send your kids to.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
School, you should believe like I sent Pierce to school
soon second grade.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Send him there. I want to have a belief that
he's not one.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Experiencing mental trauma by having all of these series of
mass shooter training drills.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Just think about it.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
I was talking to somebody this is home we were
talking about, and said, Okay, when you're in your house,
are you telling your kid get under the covers the
shooter could come and this is what you're going to do. No,
you're not doing that because it's traumatic and you want
the home to feel safe, you want school to feel safe.
These kids actually spend more time at school in many
ways and they spend at home.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
And so we haven't been able.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
To take on a billion dollar gun lobby and the
in to the extent that I believe we should because
many ways, many of folks who represent us, they're more
interested in staying in office than doing what is the
right thing to do, which is fight back, ban weapons
of mass murder. And so that's another example, and we
can go on and on strong unions. We haven't been
(17:19):
able to pass the pro Act. We're seeing unions getting
crushed left and right. We know labor and unions are
a critical piece of our economy in the middle class.
Yet we haven't passed the pro Act. We haven't passed
the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. So as a Senator,
I'm willing to be the fifty first vote to end
the filibuster and get things like the Proact pass get
things like the John Lewis Voting Right passed, and get
(17:41):
the ban on weapons of mass murder. These are just,
I think, things that Michiganders agree with me on and
want to see someone fighting.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Give me a sense because you know there will be
those who will listen to you. And to your point
is this goes beyond if you are to win this seat,
just represent any Michigan. You know, the numbers are so
so thin in the Senate that every vote is important.
When you think about the attack on diversity that we're
(18:12):
seeing now, the attack on a woman's right to choose,
you know, all of the hot button issues, the question
just the environment of race in this country. You know,
we just saw the incident in Montgomery that raised again
the specter of how, you know, far off we are
and really being cohesive as as a nation. Give me
(18:36):
a sense of what you would like to do from
that seat in helping heal the divide. What you know.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
You remind me with this question of Tiger's opening day
this year, It was the weather was great, everybody was excited.
You go out there and you have have all of
these folks that are there at the same time to tailgate.
They're there for the same team, but you had groups
(19:09):
of white folks tailgating and groups of black folks tailgating.
And I got kind of down about it, to be honest,
ed because nobody was mixing.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
They're eating the same food, drinking the same beers.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
But somehow we've gotten it into the zeitgeist that we
don't have enough in common to just talk and so and.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
It is it's wrong. I mean, this is brown versus
border Vadication was nineteen fifty four.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And I was actually talking to Smoking Robinson the other
day who endorsed me.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Thank god, thank you Smoking for that endorsement.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
And he said, Hill, I feel like it's more segregated
now through de facto segregation than we had when it
was Jim Crow and things like that, because simply, you know,
he was like, folks used to get together talk and
they talk on.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
The side and be like, hey, man's going on. We
don't even say.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
What's going on to each other anymore, And that is
a sh And I want to represent this simple fact.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I've grown up with diversity. Where I went to college,
where I went to grad school, where I grew up
and went to high school.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
All of these things were about celebrating goodness in humans
and humanity more so than how much melanin someone hasn't
or doesn't have. And the fact that we've politicized and listen,
let's be clear, the history of race in this country
goes so far back and continues, but there has to
(20:36):
be a point where we say, we have so much
more in common to work for and work together to
make this world better. And the idea that someone was
selling this country, this concept that a lot of people
bought into make America great again, rather than the best
version of America is ahead of us.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
And that's really what I want to talk about.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
What if the best version of America look like if
it is in fact ahead of us, and I believe
it is.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
And that's why one of the things we talk about
is believe in better.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
We say believe in better, because unless we start to
believe that we can make America much better than it's
ever been, then we won't do the work.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
To make it so.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
And it's going to take work. And I'm willing to
talk to anybody who has a good idea. I'm willing
to talk to anybody, no matter where they're from what
they do. And you're right at this Senate seat is
a national seat. It's a fifty to fifty Senate, and
it so goes Michigan, so goes to the country. Whoever
wins Michigan in this presidential cycle is going to win
(21:37):
the presidents.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
You know, That's just it. And it's been that way historically.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
What do you tell people who say a black progressive
Democrat first time or cannot win in the environment that
we see not only in Michigan but in the nation today.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
It's just absolutely patently false if you actually look at
the fact that so many people don't vote, you know,
and if they were to say the only way no
Harper can win is to get people who normally don't
vote in a democratic primary to turn out in big numbers,
I would say, you're absolutely right. So if I can't
(22:23):
actually touch a chord in terms of hearts and minds
and make sure that we're communicating with real people that
want to actually I believe, participate but don't feel like
there's any reason to.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
If we're able to do that, then we're able to actually.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Win something, but also do something even bigger, which is
get more people back engaged, reengaged. And what starts to
happen at is I believe it's kind of like the
reverse mirror effect of what happened with the forty fifth president.
If you saw what happened there, he was able to
to speak to people's hearts and minds and me became
(23:04):
unbeatable in a primary context because he was having so
many people vote that ordinarily wouldn't vote in a primary
and he was the anti establishment candidate. But what happened
the ripple effect, was so many other candidates that followed
the same method, methodology, and sentiment were able to run
and win all over the country. I believe that if
(23:27):
we're able to do this here, we can share the
blueprint and start a wave that starts with empathy, starts
with progression, and starts with love, starts with actual common
sense values. And we can see that type of wave
start to build where candidates become almost unbeatable if they
are espousing the same type of progressive values that I'm
(23:48):
talking about. And the labels bother me a little bit
because in many ways you say, Hill, yes, you're the
most progressive candidate in this race.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
That is true.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
But also when people hear me talk about the way
I see small businesses in economic development, there was a
Republican that said, man, I'm going to support you because
you're absolutely right, small businesses are the economic engine of
any community. And the fact that you drive around many
of the most struggling communities in Michigan and you know
that no one from those communities owns any of the
(24:20):
commerce centers in those areas. We have to We can
spend trillions of dollars bailing out banks, but we can't
bail out small entrepreneurs and communities that will actually create
jobs in those places. Side. You sound like a Republican,
you know, And so it's not about Republican Democrat progressive
conservative liberals. This it's about common sense, good ideas and
(24:43):
what's going to help people.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
So it should be in theory. You're right, it should
be in theory. But it really is about that. And
that leads me to the last point, and that is
you and I have done many many interviews over the
years that I've known you, and part of what I
always talked about is that you were very intentional with
the roles that you took and putting African American men
(25:07):
in particular in a positive light. With those roles, you know,
you look at the other side of the aisle. Then
you sit those who are running for the presidency, and
I think about the negative nature that Trump has led
them to. And quite frankly, there is a negative back
(25:29):
and forth on both sides of the isle if we're fair,
but certainly not to the extent that Trump has brought
to common everyday politics today. How can you stay positive
with the environment the nature of the body politic today?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Again, it's not getting pulled into false debates and quite frankly,
you know, not reading Twitter, you know, and we're gonna
be brass tacks. I went on Twitter the other day
and I was like, oh my god, if I read
this I would become cynical and bitter and and be upset.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
I can't let that, you know, sort of.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Inculcate my psyche, because my magic is positivity. My magic
has been we are better than we can believe in better.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
We can do these things together. And if I start to.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Flip over to cynicism, vitriol, division, negativity, then they've won.
And I believe it's different, and it's and what's so
crazy about is I believe you can.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Be a warrior in being positive.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Meaning it's not pollyannish, it's not it's not about being
a pushover.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
And it's not about saying Kumbaya, everything's okay, we're gonna
love everybody.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
No, it's about saying, I'm gonna fight for people, but
I'm gonna fight for the best of people and.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Then the best nature.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I don't have to tear somebody down to fight for somebody,
and that's the difference. I don't have to stay on
top of somebody's head just to elevate myself. I believe
we can bring enough people along that we elevate each other.
And that's the fundamental idea of not getting sucked into
that negative nature. Even within the context of a democratic primary,
where you would think that that would be true.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
But you know what I'm realizing is I'm seeing people tell.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Lies about me as soon as I announced that we're
patently false, just because they believe it's going to create
some type of competitive advantage for them.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
And and I'm not going to do that. I'm not
going to do that at all. How can I How
can I do that?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
My son is sitting right here listening to this interview.
How can I How can I represent to him that
I want him to be the best version of a
human and always be positive and support other people if
I didn't act that way. And that goes back to
your point about the roles. I chose, roles that I
believe and projects that I believe up upped our human conditions,
(28:15):
particularly as you look at us in our community, and
if there were projects that tore us down there.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
I can name a number of roles that you well
know that if I would have done.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Those roles, I'd probably be a lot richer and a
lot more famous. But they didn't fit right. And that's
why I think about somebody like Chadwick Boseman. I think
about Chadwick Boseman all the time.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
You know, I knew him.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Before he was Black Panther, before all of that. He
guest starred on CSI New York in two thousand and five,
and he was resolute about the type of artist he
was and the type of elevation he wants to have.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
And just think about that.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
We're having a podcast now talking about politics, and he's
still in my mind.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
And it shows you if you do.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Things in that level of integrity, you do things the
right way.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
There's a legacy piece involved in that.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Lastly, the idea of entertainers actors in politics is not new.
Perhaps most famous and certainly highest seat Ronald Reagan. Yeah,
you know, but I'm curious which road you're going to take.
You know, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan stopped with their
acting when they jumped in. But I think about someone
like Fred Thompson, who people may not know the name immediately,
(29:31):
but as soon as you saw that face you would know.
But continue to a far less degree, obviously, but continue
to dip his toe in the water and act while
while he was, you know, holding a seat. Which will
we see from you if you're less to have the seat.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
But you know, the most famous actor right now that's
leading is Vladimir Zelenski and so you know, people I
always try to I try to remind people of him
because you know, he's doing all.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Right, you know, and he was a comedian comedian, so
so who knows.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
I mean, this is my life as I see it,
for the next seven years. It'll take one year hopefully
to win and then six years sitting in a seat
that we won, minimum, And so for the next seven years,
(30:31):
this is this is my life, and you know, at
a minimum. But at the end of the day, giving
having people give you the permission to represent them is
such an awesome, awesome permission. And I've always thought about that,
for instance, when I was doing theater or when I
was doing a project where people had to buy a ticket,
(30:55):
you know, them deciding to come see you perform and
spend their home ordered money. They deserve the best, the
best they can get. And then the same thing for me,
if someone's going to give me their vote, they deserve
full time, twenty four to seven representation for me.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
And that's why. And I'll say it here.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Because I'm not sure if I've said this publicly that
I will not when I'm elected, be like all the
other members of Congress you at the House of Representatis
and the Senate who raise money on the people's time.
I will not raise a dime or make a funding
call between nine am and six pm because that's the
(31:40):
people's time. I should be meeting with constituents, I should
be doing office hours, I should be working on what's
represententation right now.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
And I was shocked, and many people don't realize this.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Four to six hours a day is what our representatives
spend raising money.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
On average. That's over five hundred thousand hours a year.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
And we wonder why the Congress does not get enough done.
That's why, and so campaign financial reform is necessary, not
raising money on the people's time as necessary, and truly
representing the people in a twenty four to seven capacity,
and that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Well, listen, man, we don't know what the outcome will be,
but I want to salute you for, you know, really
living your conviction, walking away from the dollars that you
were able to make and the fame that comes with
the you know, the road you've chosen is heavy stuff,
(32:38):
and to walk away and get into this really says
a lot about you. So good luck to you, my friend.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
Thank you so much. I appreciated it.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
And let me just end with this Pierce's platform, which
I think is great. I just want to say that
if anything that we've said here holdovers, if anything that
we've said here resonates with you, this is a grassroots campaign.
We need grassroots support. We do not have the big
establishment behind us. So Hill Harper dot com. A dollar
(33:09):
makes a difference, two dollars makes a difference.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
We have to build it with more donors.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
And folks that support this idea that grassroots campaigns can work.
And so I appreciate any support. Folks go to Hill
Harper dot com. Please support it and know that no
matter what amount it makes, it makes a real difference.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
And that's and that's real.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
I'm going to be very proud to be able to
stand up and say that I may not have raised
as much money as.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
My competitor or central competitors.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
But I have ten x more donors and that to
me is a more powerful statement than the actual dollar.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Now.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
One hundred is produced by Ed Gordon Media and distributed
by iHeartMedia, Carol Johnson Green and Shurie Weldon are our bookers.
Our editor is Lance Patton. Gerald Albright composed and performed
our theme. Please join me on Twitter and Instagram at
edel Gordon and on Facebook at ed Gordon Media
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