March 8, 2025 • 27 mins
Our guest is Jacob Raiford AKA Roqy Tyraid—Hip Hop activist and community organizer.
In the first half of the show, we discuss a police shooting event in San Diego and what protests could look like under this current political administration. We also discuss other easy ways for people to get involved in politically shaping communities around the country.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
mission is to foster allyship, empathy and understanding. I am
your host, Ramsey's job. Big shout out to my man
q Ward, who is traveling for a funeral, so our
thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family
(00:20):
this week. But have no fear. This is business as usual,
so we're gonna hold it down here in studio. Live
on deck with me is the one and only Jacob
Rayford aka Rocky Tirade, the hip hop activist and community
organizer extraordinaire. Today we're going to be discussing ways communities
and individuals can organize and respond to political hostilities as
(00:45):
well as local grievances. So welcome back to the show.
It's good to have you, bank you, Yeah, thank you,
thank you for having me back of course, of course, man,
So stick around. We're going to be discussing we've had
a number of like police shootings of on our black
men or whether or not they're arm posing no threat,
you know whatever. The kid, I gotta be mindful that
(01:06):
it's not illegal to have a gun. But we're gonna
we picked one story to talk about it just because
we've been covering so much in the political space and
a lot of like boycotts, things like this. We we
can't overlook kind of what's happening on the ground and
what the community's response to that could be, should be,
(01:27):
what it looks like now given the current political climate,
So we appreciate you taking the time out to come
and discuss that with us. For those that are able
to the second part of today's program, we're going to
be discussing Trump's address to Congress. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah,
(01:47):
maybe yeah, you know, delusion may well maybe we want
we want to jump ahead, We want to jump at
any event. That and so much more to stick around
for on today's episode of Civic c Apper. But before
we go any further, as always, it's time to share
some Ebony excellence, and today's Ebny Excellence comes from ABC
eight wriic dot com. This one goes back to November
(02:12):
of twenty twenty four of last year. It took us
some time to get and we have a lot of
these to get to, but we couldn't overlook this. Doctor
Hadiya Nicole Green has been selected as a Distinguished twenty
twenty four Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award honoree. This prestigious recognition
is a testament to doctor Green's exceptional dedication and service
to her signific and her significant impact on countless lives
(02:34):
nationally and internationally. Doctor Green is a STEM pioneer, leader, humanitarian,
and entrepreneur who is ushering in the next generation of
cancer treatments, cancer charities, and affordable healthcare. She is one
of the nation's leading medical physicists and one of the
first African American women to earn a PhD in physics.
She developed a localized cancer treatment that eliminates tumors in
(02:56):
mice after one ten minute treatment without observable side effects.
To fundraise for human clinical trials and ensure affordability, Doctor
Green founded a five oh one C three nonprofit organization
or a Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation. If you want
to learn more, that is or Lee dot org. The
article continues. Doctor had Nicole Greene's nomination and selection for
(03:19):
the Esteemed Award result from her exemplary commitment to service,
exceeding the stringent criteria set for this prestigious honor. Her
proven track record of impactful contributions and commendable deeds have
solidified her reputation as a true leader in her field
and a source of inspiration to her peers. The President's
Lifetime Achievement Award, which includes a lifetime pen, a golden medallion,
(03:42):
and a letter signed by President Biden, was presented to
doctor Green during a special ceremony. The event brought together
outstanding citizens from Fulton County and neighboring areas to celebrate
her honor and all of their exceptional achievements. So again,
big shout out to doctor Green fighting cancer. Uh as
only as only a black woman could. All right, So,
(04:08):
Jacob Brayford, that is uh, you know, we won't pretend
that we don't know each other. Rocky. Yeah, and do
me a favor for folks that that may not know
about your your activism. You know, give a little bit
of background just so people know who we're talking to today. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So I guess I came up in the shows Rocky
Tirade or you know, however you want to address me,
Jacob Brayford. But I got started. You know, I've been
doing this for like the past decade or so a
little bit over a decade since you know, the days
of the occupy movement and things of that nature, and
then showing up is like, you know, someone who is
just a concerned citizen pertaining to things that were going
on at that time, whether it was the mishandling of
(04:50):
our law enforcement agencies or the criminal justice system, uh,
the the harming of black men at the hands of
law enforcement officers. But showing up in terms of like
speaking up and being a part of a collective that
spoke truth to power. It was something I've been doing
for the past decade. But what really brought me into
this space I was in twenty twenty during the demonstrations,
(05:14):
the nationwide demonstrations surrounding George Floyd and overall again the
mishandling of our law enforcement agencies, particularly in regard to
black men. So it was one of the individuals who
helped form the organization in Phoenix, Arizona called the Rising Project,
and we let sustained demonstrations centered around that and then
you know, just really intersectional allyship for about about five
(05:36):
months or so, And it was one of those moments
that inspired me to continue my work in that particular field.
The next year was centered around pushing for an advocacy
program a centered around victimist non violent dispatches. You know,
we come from hip hop, so we called it the
Neighborhood Organized Crisis Assistance Program or no CAP, but we're
talking about behavioral health, substance abuse, the in house community,
(05:59):
anything that's a victimists and non violent dispatch in general.
We advocated for a program within the City of Phoenix
centered around that, and of course the tenants were eventually
adopted into a similar shell program and then the development continues,
but fell into the ACLU here in Arizona and nationally
as a board member vice president here in Arizona, but
(06:19):
also working within you know, the local political space as
a co chair of the Black Engagement Committee former COOPADEMS,
which is really the primited like county Democratic County in
the United States is one of the largest counties, largest
in population, and of course in a swing state such
as Arizona that does hold a considerable amount of weight.
(06:41):
And then also you know, just utilizing my ability to
operate in this space and connect people to move specific
you know policies, advocate for policies, push for elections that
are centered around you know, things that we value as
progressive folks, and then of course working in the Arizona
Democratic Party as the political directors. So I mean, it's
(07:02):
just a long laundry list of random things, but all
of that ties to me being a hip hop artist
like it, you know, the ability to communicate things that
I'm passionate about and then connect people together.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It should we do, sure, Sure, And you know, one
of the other things is that, you know, it's important
to bear in mind that you know, my background is
in hip hop radio, and initially I knew you as
an artist, and so you know, when you made this
transition and started to kind of take on more of
a national stage with your with your activism, uh, and
(07:32):
then this show, of course began to grow as well.
We often would would lean on you for your expertise
because while we're very good at making radio programming, we
are not necessarily community organizers in the same way we're
not necessarily were well, this this is very community d
really well to be fairer r, you know, in terms
(07:57):
of getting folks out on the streets and marching. That's
sort of thing I've always found myself in the march,
not kind of organizing the march right, And so you know,
there's a lot of people around the country who I
feel are really wanting to explore new ways of pushing
back against what many folks feel as a hostile, you know, administration.
(08:21):
And so again, your expertise and insight into matters like
this will certainly help those folks around the country. So absolutely, Again,
the story that we chose is Q's fingerprints are on
the episode, just so you know he's He's just at
a funeral. But we picked this story. It's from the
Black Information Network, and I'll share it with you. Video
(08:43):
footage has been released of a fatal police shooting that
left a sixteen year old black teen dead as he
was fleeing from another shooting, per NBC San Diego. On Friday,
February twenty first authorities released video footage of the January
shooting involving San Diego Police Department officer Daniel Gold and
the teenager. Surveillance video showed the teen walking toward a
group of miners when suddenly one of the kids opened fire.
(09:06):
The sixteen year old boy ran for his life after
the other child fired at least two shots at him.
Gold was responding to an unrelated call in that area
when he encountered the teen at the Santa Fe depot.
The officer shot him at close range. The boy tried
to run away before he collapsed. Officers performed CPR on him,
(09:26):
after which he was taken to a hospital, where he
was pronounced dead. Following the teen's collapse, officers said they
found a gun concealed under his clothes. However, there are
no signs that the teen ever fired the gun or
was holding it when Gold fatally shot him. The San
Diego County Sheriff's Office has launched an investigation into the
officer's use of force. Following the probe, the District Attorney's
(09:48):
office will decide whether to pursue charges against Gold. Another
sixteen year old has been arrested in connection to the
initial shooting that occurred prior to the victim's fatal encounter
with police. So again, and I want to I want
to remind folks that we picked one story. There are
tons of these stories and we just haven't been able
(10:10):
to get to them. We have an hour show, you know,
but this one, it it felt like we needed to
to talk about this one. And with again with this
current administration, with you know, the president very pro police,
(10:32):
with his right hand person hinting that George Floyd should
receive a presidential pardon. It kind of gives exactly exactly
did I say that wrong?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah, I mean Georg George like Derek Shelvin, And that's
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I mean, yes, absolutely, And uh, you know, they're they're
very much you know, pro police. And anytime the police,
you know, are under screwtiney or held accountable or something
that it feels like this administration is going to push
back against any sort of police accountability. And so we
(11:07):
need to have a conversation about how we show our
displeasure with the police. So really, before we start, give
me your your thoughts on the story that that we
just read, and then I'll ask a few questions.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
You know, I want to even say it's not even
because I know when certain people hear at the term ProPolice,
they'll say, well, I like law enforcement, and you know,
of course, like the tenets of like protecting our community
you know, should be important. But you know, the language
the connotation behind that is the lack of accountability, you know,
turning weaponizing community resources that are supposed to again as
(11:43):
we recognize them to be like serve or as they
should be serve and protect our community and that is
all community members. And when it is there is an
overhanded or heavy handed, disproportionately you know, aggressive response to
urban communities and within that black people specifically, and within
(12:04):
that black men specifically, that is a problem. So, you know,
and I know that there's other things taking place in
in this in in this current environment, this this current
point in time, but we can't shy away from things
that have continued to exist and will exist within the
background while we talk about other economic issues and stuff
like that, which is the mishandling of our community resources,
(12:26):
and that would be our first responder system and within
that the police department and within specific communities such as
San Diego, and then what we have experienced with different
DJ investigations and things of that nature within different communities,
Phoenix being one of them. You know, But we need
(12:46):
to address alternative to police responses. I think that is
the overarching I guess unifying centralized conversation. How do we
create a non violent response to dispatches that are not
warranted in violence if something has already occurred, you know,
that should not like showing up with you know, guns
(13:09):
drawn or ready to further escalate a situation. Is it's
a point at that in that particular point in time
because the transgres transgression has already passed. But you know,
looking at that, I see it's no different than what
we experienced, would say, Anthony Conna or mistaken identity situations
(13:30):
like James Garcia or again a you know, unnecessarily violent
response that's such a you know, Alton Sterling, you know, uh, Brianna,
you know, going back and forth, Sean Bell, I mean,
we can we can con see exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Let me let me offer this too while we're here.
You know, I've heard a lot of good ideas that
really bring the conversation back to police accountability and for
folks around the country who do want to organize, who
do want to you know, push back against, you know,
the hostilities they may experience in their own community at
the hands of police. One of the things that I
(14:09):
that I strongly believe in is having police carry insurance.
I think that that is something that if an officer
carries insurance, you know, their premiums go higher if they
are prone to misconduct, and then they become uninsurable at
a point if they you know, step over the line
if they're an habitual line stepper, so to speak. Another
thing that you know, I've learned just kind of traveling
(14:30):
around the world is that you know, here in this country,
police carry their guns on their person, and they're trained
to respond to fear, and therefore they when they show up,
they're looking for the thing to be afraid of. And
if in other countries, they'll keep their guns in the
trunk of the car, and if it necessary, then they
go and get the trunk. And I think that things
(14:51):
like this can certainly impact the disproportionate amount of executions
of young black men that we see in this country
at the hands of police. And one more thing I
do want to say, because I do know that in
this article the young man was carrying a gun. But
for folks with a modicum of empathy that may not
(15:13):
agree with the premise of this show, I need you
to imagine that, and I don't know this to be
factual in this story, but imagine that this young man
lives in an environment where it's very tense and it's
a scary place. There's a lot of economic inequality, there's
(15:34):
a lot of systemic things that have resulted in you know,
certain environments just not being doing as well as others, right,
and walking to school is scary. You know, people will
steal your shoes and you know people will try to
jump you or people whatever. Right, And so you know,
at sixteen years old, whereas most people are playing basketball,
you know, just being sixteen, you resort to carrying a gun.
(16:00):
And as it turns out in his case, there are
people out there who do want to hurt you. It's
another sixteen year old, but you know, this is the
environment that this child lived in. And as we've seen,
the police are also trying to get you. And we
you know Exhibits an artist that we kind of grew
up with, and he has a song where in the
(16:20):
hook he says, I'd rather be caught with it than
caught without one, referring to a gun. And so I
say this to suggest to people that may not agree
with the premise of the show that it is this
child was born into a set of circumstances and an
environment that was hostile towards him. And this was a
move that he perhaps made, and he didn't show the
gun to the officer, none of that, so he lost
his life. Neither.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Can I say something, Yeah, he like when you look
at the advocacy around you know, the right to bear
arms that is centered around life preservation. There is a
sense of desperation within that. Regardless of whatever economic standing
you're in, what moment in history you're in, and where
you live your background. Life preservation is the reason why
(17:05):
the majority of people carry or or purchased, especially in
these times. You look at the massive amount of people
in twenty twenty. It wasn't just toilet paper that people
were buying. They were buying ways to protect their family.
And when you know, we could talk about the social
economic issues and all the nuance that ties into that,
which would result in someone living in a state of
(17:26):
feeling that they need to preserve their you know, their
you know, their body bodily integrity, or protect protect their
protect themselves. We can look at it from that stance,
and we can also say that no one was harmed
in that particular situation. There was no threat, There was
no reason to draw and kill a human being, a child.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So I just know how folks on their rights. Yeah,
well he had a gun, so he had it coming, right,
and they lose sight of the fact, right, And.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Then we could say he had you know, someone had
a cigarette, someone potentially had a gun which was a wallet,
someone had a loud voice, someone was taking the wrong train,
you know, you know, why did he run away? You know,
So it's it's always a looking at that. It's like
the common denominator is, you know, this kind of ethnocentric
(18:15):
prejudice that you know, uh, you know, black folks, black
men in particularly particular, have experienced for hundreds of years,
and you know, we need to be in a space
to be able to speak about that and how we
can address it in substantive ways, one of which is
addressing the lack of accountability in this particular space and
that his you know historically mind you, and how we
(18:36):
can as a community come together recognize that, you know,
if we do not push for a level of accountability,
a system of accountability and allow you know, these individuals
who engage in illegal or you know, practices and things
of that nature to be held legally responsible, we are
(18:57):
going to continue to perpetuate this issue. And right now
as we go into further like strenuous times and emotionally
trying times with this current administration, and how that just
trickles down in society there's going to be more cases
where you know, people are in this low vibrational state
that results in someone end up ending up engaging in
(19:18):
harmful behavior against a citizen or community member while representing
their the the city and its municipal resources.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So let me ask you this, under normal circumstances, you know,
something like this happens, the community gets together and they
they protest, they organize, and they you know, galvanize their
voices and they you know, approach the police department and
(19:47):
they insist on accountability and change and things like that.
Do you think or how about this? Because I know
that the answer to that would be yes. But in
what ways do you think this administration will affect people's
capacity to to pro test what they feel is injustice.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I mean, we already see it right now. And it's
regardless of the type of demonstration, whether it's when of
the's something that involves someone gaining a permit and then
you know, having a giant rally in a park or
at a capital, or you know a group of activists
or organizations just deciding to you know, utilize their constitutional
right and engage in a peaceful, non violent demonstration. This
(20:23):
has the the uptick in the past, what thirty what
about forty days or so, you know, since this new
administration has it has risen exponentially. So I mean, of
course it is encouraged for people to engage in dialogue
and then ask what they could do. But you know,
the real what's next is to get involved in your
(20:44):
local political structure to affect policy change. So in a
way that's meaningful. So we have, you know, within your
party within your state, there is you know, your your
state party, you may have your county party. And then
within particularly work depending on where you live, whether it's
a board or you have a district, you have your
the party within that particular structure, and within that it's
(21:08):
broken down because you know how you have for instance,
like you said, hey, you have like a school district.
For instance, we have in using Arizona as an example
on overspeaking to the entire nation, but we have what's
called a legislative districts, and within that district are precincts
which make up those districts. Within those precincts, it is
operated by what are called precinct committee people, and within
(21:30):
the United States it may be called precinct committee officers.
Like in Washington or I believe, Pennsylvania. But it's the
same structure. So you have the foundation of that, which
would be the precinct committee people or precint committee officers.
They represent that legislative district and its party, and then
you know that is how you can be directly connected
to your party. The elected officials serve as a conduit
(21:54):
between your community. I believe, for instance, the state of Arizona,
I think it's one hundred and twenty five. For instance,
registered Democrats makes up one precinct committee person, So you're
talking about someone who is a representative of their entire community.
And when you add to that, you have the politically,
you have the ability to affect policy change, run for
(22:15):
office within your local party, and affect your county party
for instance. You're talking about something that is revolutionary in
terms of our involvement in this space. The antithesis of
that is when Steve Bannon ten or so years ago
was telling people, if you have an issue with the
Republican Party, become a precinct committee person and then take
over your party, and now we have an entire maga cult.
(22:37):
So the good natured version of that is people who
are finding issues within their municipal structure, city state, what
have you. Society in general become a part of the solution.
It's never about, oh, the Democrats. It's not this like
collective person. A party is nothing more than a set
of administrative paperwork, legal paperwork, a domain name, and a
(23:00):
bank account. It is a vehicle if you want to
compare it to anything, and if you don't like where
it is going, get in a vehicle and help change
it in a different direction that is more centered around
your community values. And we see that take place whether
it's in our immediate region, within other communities, and the
substantial history defining effect that it has within that particular
(23:22):
political space, it is incredibly powerful and incredibly important. Without
getting to verbos, I'll lastly say, one worker ant can't
do much, but an entire colony can change the entire
ecosystem or landscape around it. And that is exactly what
a precinct committee person is. No money obligation, no time obligation.
It is what you make of it. But you are
(23:42):
politically empowered to make a difference.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Because I thought we would have a conversation about protesting,
but it seems like this is something that the individuals
can do right without needing to reach. Like let's say
a person has fifty Instagram followers, but they're fed up
and they want to, you know, have their voice be heard.
Or you know, we we saw recently Donald Trump say
(24:11):
that he's going to pull federal funding from campuses that
allow illegal protests. Yeah, and you know who decides what
an illegal protest is? And when you have you know,
thousands of people protesting, maybe one or two people might
step out of line illegal and then you know, so
so protesting in and of itself is under attack in
addition to you know, free speech and you know, congressional
(24:33):
oversight and you know all that sort of stuff. But
it seems like this this PCP a precint committee person
or prect committee officer, I saying it wrong a pc OC.
So depending on where you're at, sorry, you know, prect
committee officers, say, like in Washington or Pennsylvania or some
other states. In Arizona, where you know, I am based
(24:55):
out of, it's called a precinct committee person or a
pret committee woman, prec and committee man, so on and
so forth. This is it's a person that speaks, that
is that is a part of their districts party or
their legislative districts party and also their county party. So me,
I'm a precinct committee person and I live in Tempe.
I'm in North Tempe. It's called Legislative District eight. So
(25:16):
I was the the coult the vice chair of that.
So I helped direct the uh, you know, basically the
whole organizational structure of that of that party. So how
does a person become that? Is it? You like, go
to your local city website.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
So yeah, you can. You can go to your state's
democratic website for instance, if we're using the Democratic Party
as an example, and then you know, they'll ask how
how to get engaged or where in the state that
you live in, for instance, Arizona. On azyledge dot org,
for instance, they have an entire map of Arizona and
it says, okay, find where you live, and it's this
interactive map and you can click, say if you live
(25:54):
in Tucson, you know, you click on that and it'll
give you the information and and from there it'll direct
you to where to go to who to contact, so
on and so forth. So yeah, so in taking it
back to sorry, taking it back to the protests, people
are going to show up. People always show up, but
(26:14):
they expect for these demonstrations to die down. And that
is what made us so effective, you and me and
all of our folks who were out there with is
that not only was it sustained, but we pointed it
towards a next set of actions and the next set
of goals.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
So this sounds like the next sets. This is the
what's next.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
When people are showing up and they're mad, and they're
taking selfies and they're in that emotional moment, and they
get in their car and they go home, it shouldn't
just stop there. Get involved with your party, become a
precinct committee person and affect change and ensure that your
party is working on behalf of the values of your community.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Give me a favor. What is your social media?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
My social media is m R jac O B r
A I f O r D and then r o
q y T y r k I d
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
mission is to foster allyship, empathy and understanding. I am
your host, Ramsey's job. Big shout out to my man
q Ward, who is traveling for a funeral, so our
thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family
(00:20):
this week. But have no fear. This is business as usual,
so we're gonna hold it down here in studio. Live
on deck with me is the one and only Jacob
Rayford aka Rocky Tirade, the hip hop activist and community
organizer extraordinaire. Today we're going to be discussing ways communities
and individuals can organize and respond to political hostilities as
(00:45):
well as local grievances. So welcome back to the show.
It's good to have you, bank you, Yeah, thank you,
thank you for having me back of course, of course, man,
So stick around. We're going to be discussing we've had
a number of like police shootings of on our black
men or whether or not they're arm posing no threat,
you know whatever. The kid, I gotta be mindful that
(01:06):
it's not illegal to have a gun. But we're gonna
we picked one story to talk about it just because
we've been covering so much in the political space and
a lot of like boycotts, things like this. We we
can't overlook kind of what's happening on the ground and
what the community's response to that could be, should be,
(01:27):
what it looks like now given the current political climate,
So we appreciate you taking the time out to come
and discuss that with us. For those that are able
to the second part of today's program, we're going to
be discussing Trump's address to Congress. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah,
(01:47):
maybe yeah, you know, delusion may well maybe we want
we want to jump ahead, We want to jump at
any event. That and so much more to stick around
for on today's episode of Civic c Apper. But before
we go any further, as always, it's time to share
some Ebony excellence, and today's Ebny Excellence comes from ABC
eight wriic dot com. This one goes back to November
(02:12):
of twenty twenty four of last year. It took us
some time to get and we have a lot of
these to get to, but we couldn't overlook this. Doctor
Hadiya Nicole Green has been selected as a Distinguished twenty
twenty four Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award honoree. This prestigious recognition
is a testament to doctor Green's exceptional dedication and service
to her signific and her significant impact on countless lives
(02:34):
nationally and internationally. Doctor Green is a STEM pioneer, leader, humanitarian,
and entrepreneur who is ushering in the next generation of
cancer treatments, cancer charities, and affordable healthcare. She is one
of the nation's leading medical physicists and one of the
first African American women to earn a PhD in physics.
She developed a localized cancer treatment that eliminates tumors in
(02:56):
mice after one ten minute treatment without observable side effects.
To fundraise for human clinical trials and ensure affordability, Doctor
Green founded a five oh one C three nonprofit organization
or a Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation. If you want
to learn more, that is or Lee dot org. The
article continues. Doctor had Nicole Greene's nomination and selection for
(03:19):
the Esteemed Award result from her exemplary commitment to service,
exceeding the stringent criteria set for this prestigious honor. Her
proven track record of impactful contributions and commendable deeds have
solidified her reputation as a true leader in her field
and a source of inspiration to her peers. The President's
Lifetime Achievement Award, which includes a lifetime pen, a golden medallion,
(03:42):
and a letter signed by President Biden, was presented to
doctor Green during a special ceremony. The event brought together
outstanding citizens from Fulton County and neighboring areas to celebrate
her honor and all of their exceptional achievements. So again,
big shout out to doctor Green fighting cancer. Uh as
only as only a black woman could. All right, So,
(04:08):
Jacob Brayford, that is uh, you know, we won't pretend
that we don't know each other. Rocky. Yeah, and do
me a favor for folks that that may not know
about your your activism. You know, give a little bit
of background just so people know who we're talking to today. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So I guess I came up in the shows Rocky
Tirade or you know, however you want to address me,
Jacob Brayford. But I got started. You know, I've been
doing this for like the past decade or so a
little bit over a decade since you know, the days
of the occupy movement and things of that nature, and
then showing up is like, you know, someone who is
just a concerned citizen pertaining to things that were going
on at that time, whether it was the mishandling of
(04:50):
our law enforcement agencies or the criminal justice system, uh,
the the harming of black men at the hands of
law enforcement officers. But showing up in terms of like
speaking up and being a part of a collective that
spoke truth to power. It was something I've been doing
for the past decade. But what really brought me into
this space I was in twenty twenty during the demonstrations,
(05:14):
the nationwide demonstrations surrounding George Floyd and overall again the
mishandling of our law enforcement agencies, particularly in regard to
black men. So it was one of the individuals who
helped form the organization in Phoenix, Arizona called the Rising Project,
and we let sustained demonstrations centered around that and then
you know, just really intersectional allyship for about about five
(05:36):
months or so, And it was one of those moments
that inspired me to continue my work in that particular field.
The next year was centered around pushing for an advocacy
program a centered around victimist non violent dispatches. You know,
we come from hip hop, so we called it the
Neighborhood Organized Crisis Assistance Program or no CAP, but we're
talking about behavioral health, substance abuse, the in house community,
(05:59):
anything that's a victimists and non violent dispatch in general.
We advocated for a program within the City of Phoenix
centered around that, and of course the tenants were eventually
adopted into a similar shell program and then the development continues,
but fell into the ACLU here in Arizona and nationally
as a board member vice president here in Arizona, but
(06:19):
also working within you know, the local political space as
a co chair of the Black Engagement Committee former COOPADEMS,
which is really the primited like county Democratic County in
the United States is one of the largest counties, largest
in population, and of course in a swing state such
as Arizona that does hold a considerable amount of weight.
(06:41):
And then also you know, just utilizing my ability to
operate in this space and connect people to move specific
you know policies, advocate for policies, push for elections that
are centered around you know, things that we value as
progressive folks, and then of course working in the Arizona
Democratic Party as the political directors. So I mean, it's
(07:02):
just a long laundry list of random things, but all
of that ties to me being a hip hop artist
like it, you know, the ability to communicate things that
I'm passionate about and then connect people together.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It should we do, sure, Sure, And you know, one
of the other things is that, you know, it's important
to bear in mind that you know, my background is
in hip hop radio, and initially I knew you as
an artist, and so you know, when you made this
transition and started to kind of take on more of
a national stage with your with your activism, uh, and
(07:32):
then this show, of course began to grow as well.
We often would would lean on you for your expertise
because while we're very good at making radio programming, we
are not necessarily community organizers in the same way we're
not necessarily were well, this this is very community d
really well to be fairer r, you know, in terms
(07:57):
of getting folks out on the streets and marching. That's
sort of thing I've always found myself in the march,
not kind of organizing the march right, And so you know,
there's a lot of people around the country who I
feel are really wanting to explore new ways of pushing
back against what many folks feel as a hostile, you know, administration.
(08:21):
And so again, your expertise and insight into matters like
this will certainly help those folks around the country. So absolutely, Again,
the story that we chose is Q's fingerprints are on
the episode, just so you know he's He's just at
a funeral. But we picked this story. It's from the
Black Information Network, and I'll share it with you. Video
(08:43):
footage has been released of a fatal police shooting that
left a sixteen year old black teen dead as he
was fleeing from another shooting, per NBC San Diego. On Friday,
February twenty first authorities released video footage of the January
shooting involving San Diego Police Department officer Daniel Gold and
the teenager. Surveillance video showed the teen walking toward a
group of miners when suddenly one of the kids opened fire.
(09:06):
The sixteen year old boy ran for his life after
the other child fired at least two shots at him.
Gold was responding to an unrelated call in that area
when he encountered the teen at the Santa Fe depot.
The officer shot him at close range. The boy tried
to run away before he collapsed. Officers performed CPR on him,
(09:26):
after which he was taken to a hospital, where he
was pronounced dead. Following the teen's collapse, officers said they
found a gun concealed under his clothes. However, there are
no signs that the teen ever fired the gun or
was holding it when Gold fatally shot him. The San
Diego County Sheriff's Office has launched an investigation into the
officer's use of force. Following the probe, the District Attorney's
(09:48):
office will decide whether to pursue charges against Gold. Another
sixteen year old has been arrested in connection to the
initial shooting that occurred prior to the victim's fatal encounter
with police. So again, and I want to I want
to remind folks that we picked one story. There are
tons of these stories and we just haven't been able
(10:10):
to get to them. We have an hour show, you know,
but this one, it it felt like we needed to
to talk about this one. And with again with this
current administration, with you know, the president very pro police,
(10:32):
with his right hand person hinting that George Floyd should
receive a presidential pardon. It kind of gives exactly exactly
did I say that wrong?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yeah, I mean Georg George like Derek Shelvin, And that's
what I mean.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
I mean, yes, absolutely, And uh, you know, they're they're
very much you know, pro police. And anytime the police,
you know, are under screwtiney or held accountable or something
that it feels like this administration is going to push
back against any sort of police accountability. And so we
(11:07):
need to have a conversation about how we show our
displeasure with the police. So really, before we start, give
me your your thoughts on the story that that we
just read, and then I'll ask a few questions.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
You know, I want to even say it's not even
because I know when certain people hear at the term ProPolice,
they'll say, well, I like law enforcement, and you know,
of course, like the tenets of like protecting our community
you know, should be important. But you know, the language
the connotation behind that is the lack of accountability, you know,
turning weaponizing community resources that are supposed to again as
(11:43):
we recognize them to be like serve or as they
should be serve and protect our community and that is
all community members. And when it is there is an
overhanded or heavy handed, disproportionately you know, aggressive response to
urban communities and within that black people specifically, and within
(12:04):
that black men specifically, that is a problem. So, you know,
and I know that there's other things taking place in
in this in in this current environment, this this current
point in time, but we can't shy away from things
that have continued to exist and will exist within the
background while we talk about other economic issues and stuff
like that, which is the mishandling of our community resources,
(12:26):
and that would be our first responder system and within
that the police department and within specific communities such as
San Diego, and then what we have experienced with different
DJ investigations and things of that nature within different communities,
Phoenix being one of them. You know, But we need
(12:46):
to address alternative to police responses. I think that is
the overarching I guess unifying centralized conversation. How do we
create a non violent response to dispatches that are not
warranted in violence if something has already occurred, you know,
that should not like showing up with you know, guns
(13:09):
drawn or ready to further escalate a situation. Is it's
a point at that in that particular point in time
because the transgres transgression has already passed. But you know,
looking at that, I see it's no different than what
we experienced, would say, Anthony Conna or mistaken identity situations
(13:30):
like James Garcia or again a you know, unnecessarily violent
response that's such a you know, Alton Sterling, you know, uh, Brianna,
you know, going back and forth, Sean Bell, I mean,
we can we can con see exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Let me let me offer this too while we're here.
You know, I've heard a lot of good ideas that
really bring the conversation back to police accountability and for
folks around the country who do want to organize, who
do want to you know, push back against, you know,
the hostilities they may experience in their own community at
the hands of police. One of the things that I
(14:09):
that I strongly believe in is having police carry insurance.
I think that that is something that if an officer
carries insurance, you know, their premiums go higher if they
are prone to misconduct, and then they become uninsurable at
a point if they you know, step over the line
if they're an habitual line stepper, so to speak. Another
thing that you know, I've learned just kind of traveling
(14:30):
around the world is that you know, here in this country,
police carry their guns on their person, and they're trained
to respond to fear, and therefore they when they show up,
they're looking for the thing to be afraid of. And
if in other countries, they'll keep their guns in the
trunk of the car, and if it necessary, then they
go and get the trunk. And I think that things
(14:51):
like this can certainly impact the disproportionate amount of executions
of young black men that we see in this country
at the hands of police. And one more thing I
do want to say, because I do know that in
this article the young man was carrying a gun. But
for folks with a modicum of empathy that may not
(15:13):
agree with the premise of this show, I need you
to imagine that, and I don't know this to be
factual in this story, but imagine that this young man
lives in an environment where it's very tense and it's
a scary place. There's a lot of economic inequality, there's
(15:34):
a lot of systemic things that have resulted in you know,
certain environments just not being doing as well as others, right,
and walking to school is scary. You know, people will
steal your shoes and you know people will try to
jump you or people whatever. Right, And so you know,
at sixteen years old, whereas most people are playing basketball,
you know, just being sixteen, you resort to carrying a gun.
(16:00):
And as it turns out in his case, there are
people out there who do want to hurt you. It's
another sixteen year old, but you know, this is the
environment that this child lived in. And as we've seen,
the police are also trying to get you. And we
you know Exhibits an artist that we kind of grew
up with, and he has a song where in the
(16:20):
hook he says, I'd rather be caught with it than
caught without one, referring to a gun. And so I
say this to suggest to people that may not agree
with the premise of the show that it is this
child was born into a set of circumstances and an
environment that was hostile towards him. And this was a
move that he perhaps made, and he didn't show the
gun to the officer, none of that, so he lost
his life. Neither.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Can I say something, Yeah, he like when you look
at the advocacy around you know, the right to bear
arms that is centered around life preservation. There is a
sense of desperation within that. Regardless of whatever economic standing
you're in, what moment in history you're in, and where
you live your background. Life preservation is the reason why
(17:05):
the majority of people carry or or purchased, especially in
these times. You look at the massive amount of people
in twenty twenty. It wasn't just toilet paper that people
were buying. They were buying ways to protect their family.
And when you know, we could talk about the social
economic issues and all the nuance that ties into that,
which would result in someone living in a state of
(17:26):
feeling that they need to preserve their you know, their
you know, their body bodily integrity, or protect protect their
protect themselves. We can look at it from that stance,
and we can also say that no one was harmed
in that particular situation. There was no threat, There was
no reason to draw and kill a human being, a child.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So I just know how folks on their rights. Yeah,
well he had a gun, so he had it coming, right,
and they lose sight of the fact, right, And.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Then we could say he had you know, someone had
a cigarette, someone potentially had a gun which was a wallet,
someone had a loud voice, someone was taking the wrong train,
you know, you know, why did he run away? You know,
So it's it's always a looking at that. It's like
the common denominator is, you know, this kind of ethnocentric
(18:15):
prejudice that you know, uh, you know, black folks, black
men in particularly particular, have experienced for hundreds of years,
and you know, we need to be in a space
to be able to speak about that and how we
can address it in substantive ways, one of which is
addressing the lack of accountability in this particular space and
that his you know historically mind you, and how we
(18:36):
can as a community come together recognize that, you know,
if we do not push for a level of accountability,
a system of accountability and allow you know, these individuals
who engage in illegal or you know, practices and things
of that nature to be held legally responsible, we are
(18:57):
going to continue to perpetuate this issue. And right now
as we go into further like strenuous times and emotionally
trying times with this current administration, and how that just
trickles down in society there's going to be more cases
where you know, people are in this low vibrational state
that results in someone end up ending up engaging in
(19:18):
harmful behavior against a citizen or community member while representing
their the the city and its municipal resources.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
So let me ask you this, under normal circumstances, you know,
something like this happens, the community gets together and they
they protest, they organize, and they you know, galvanize their
voices and they you know, approach the police department and
(19:47):
they insist on accountability and change and things like that.
Do you think or how about this? Because I know
that the answer to that would be yes. But in
what ways do you think this administration will affect people's
capacity to to pro test what they feel is injustice.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I mean, we already see it right now. And it's
regardless of the type of demonstration, whether it's when of
the's something that involves someone gaining a permit and then
you know, having a giant rally in a park or
at a capital, or you know a group of activists
or organizations just deciding to you know, utilize their constitutional
right and engage in a peaceful, non violent demonstration. This
(20:23):
has the the uptick in the past, what thirty what
about forty days or so, you know, since this new
administration has it has risen exponentially. So I mean, of
course it is encouraged for people to engage in dialogue
and then ask what they could do. But you know,
the real what's next is to get involved in your
(20:44):
local political structure to affect policy change. So in a
way that's meaningful. So we have, you know, within your
party within your state, there is you know, your your
state party, you may have your county party. And then
within particularly work depending on where you live, whether it's
a board or you have a district, you have your
the party within that particular structure, and within that it's
(21:08):
broken down because you know how you have for instance,
like you said, hey, you have like a school district.
For instance, we have in using Arizona as an example
on overspeaking to the entire nation, but we have what's
called a legislative districts, and within that district are precincts
which make up those districts. Within those precincts, it is
operated by what are called precinct committee people, and within
(21:30):
the United States it may be called precinct committee officers.
Like in Washington or I believe, Pennsylvania. But it's the
same structure. So you have the foundation of that, which
would be the precinct committee people or precint committee officers.
They represent that legislative district and its party, and then
you know that is how you can be directly connected
to your party. The elected officials serve as a conduit
(21:54):
between your community. I believe, for instance, the state of Arizona,
I think it's one hundred and twenty five. For instance,
registered Democrats makes up one precinct committee person, So you're
talking about someone who is a representative of their entire community.
And when you add to that, you have the politically,
you have the ability to affect policy change, run for
(22:15):
office within your local party, and affect your county party
for instance. You're talking about something that is revolutionary in
terms of our involvement in this space. The antithesis of
that is when Steve Bannon ten or so years ago
was telling people, if you have an issue with the
Republican Party, become a precinct committee person and then take
over your party, and now we have an entire maga cult.
(22:37):
So the good natured version of that is people who
are finding issues within their municipal structure, city state, what
have you. Society in general become a part of the solution.
It's never about, oh, the Democrats. It's not this like
collective person. A party is nothing more than a set
of administrative paperwork, legal paperwork, a domain name, and a
(23:00):
bank account. It is a vehicle if you want to
compare it to anything, and if you don't like where
it is going, get in a vehicle and help change
it in a different direction that is more centered around
your community values. And we see that take place whether
it's in our immediate region, within other communities, and the
substantial history defining effect that it has within that particular
(23:22):
political space, it is incredibly powerful and incredibly important. Without
getting to verbos, I'll lastly say, one worker ant can't
do much, but an entire colony can change the entire
ecosystem or landscape around it. And that is exactly what
a precinct committee person is. No money obligation, no time obligation.
It is what you make of it. But you are
(23:42):
politically empowered to make a difference.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Because I thought we would have a conversation about protesting,
but it seems like this is something that the individuals
can do right without needing to reach. Like let's say
a person has fifty Instagram followers, but they're fed up
and they want to, you know, have their voice be heard.
Or you know, we we saw recently Donald Trump say
(24:11):
that he's going to pull federal funding from campuses that
allow illegal protests. Yeah, and you know who decides what
an illegal protest is? And when you have you know,
thousands of people protesting, maybe one or two people might
step out of line illegal and then you know, so
so protesting in and of itself is under attack in
addition to you know, free speech and you know, congressional
(24:33):
oversight and you know all that sort of stuff. But
it seems like this this PCP a precint committee person
or prect committee officer, I saying it wrong a pc OC.
So depending on where you're at, sorry, you know, prect
committee officers, say, like in Washington or Pennsylvania or some
other states. In Arizona, where you know, I am based
(24:55):
out of, it's called a precinct committee person or a
pret committee woman, prec and committee man, so on and
so forth. This is it's a person that speaks, that
is that is a part of their districts party or
their legislative districts party and also their county party. So me,
I'm a precinct committee person and I live in Tempe.
I'm in North Tempe. It's called Legislative District eight. So
(25:16):
I was the the coult the vice chair of that.
So I helped direct the uh, you know, basically the
whole organizational structure of that of that party. So how
does a person become that? Is it? You like, go
to your local city website.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
So yeah, you can. You can go to your state's
democratic website for instance, if we're using the Democratic Party
as an example, and then you know, they'll ask how
how to get engaged or where in the state that
you live in, for instance, Arizona. On azyledge dot org,
for instance, they have an entire map of Arizona and
it says, okay, find where you live, and it's this
interactive map and you can click, say if you live
(25:54):
in Tucson, you know, you click on that and it'll
give you the information and and from there it'll direct
you to where to go to who to contact, so
on and so forth. So yeah, so in taking it
back to sorry, taking it back to the protests, people
are going to show up. People always show up, but
(26:14):
they expect for these demonstrations to die down. And that
is what made us so effective, you and me and
all of our folks who were out there with is
that not only was it sustained, but we pointed it
towards a next set of actions and the next set
of goals.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
So this sounds like the next sets. This is the
what's next.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
When people are showing up and they're mad, and they're
taking selfies and they're in that emotional moment, and they
get in their car and they go home, it shouldn't
just stop there. Get involved with your party, become a
precinct committee person and affect change and ensure that your
party is working on behalf of the values of your community.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Give me a favor. What is your social media?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
My social media is m R jac O B r
A I f O r D and then r o
q y T y r k I d
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