Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00We're now going to turn into our next guest from the talented actor that you just heard from
00:05Anthony Anderson to a lifelong advocate for justice. Joining us now to talk about her
00:11on the ground work this election season, Tamika Mallory, who's an author and the leader of the
00:162017 Women's March. Tamika, I know that we all know that you have been doing this work for a
00:23long time. We know that you have a lot going on tonight, and you carved out some time out
00:27of your schedule to join us. So thank you, thank you, thank you for joining us.
00:30Hi, Ebony and Alfonso. Love you all.
00:34Thank you. So we've seen a record number of people, Tamika, participate in this electoral
00:40process. As we mentioned, I voted early. Ebony is going to be voting tomorrow,
00:45but we'll put that aside for a second. Ebony, Ebony, Ebony, Ebony.
00:47We'll put that aside for a second. Did you decide to vote early in this election,
00:52and if you did, what was your experience?
00:54Yeah, absolutely. I voted early, usually, which is why I don't know what Ebony was thinking about.
01:04But I'm going to vote. I am voting. I've never been.
01:06I get it. But like, why put yourself through the last day? You know, there are some people,
01:12though. I was knocking on doors on Saturday in Philadelphia, and people said, election day is
01:20my thing. Like, I don't go early. That's not my whole family. We go together. We make a thing
01:26of getting up early in the morning and going on election day. So for some folks, that's the thing.
01:30But it wasn't Ebony's thing. She just was working too much. She was working too much, and she
01:36procrastinated all the way until the line. That's not what we're supposed to be talking about.
01:42No, love to you, sis. I know you're going to get it done. But my experience was interesting,
01:49because generally, when I go to early vote, because I do so in almost every election,
01:54I'm always in a different state on election day, especially when there are super,
01:58you know, important national races happening. But in this particular time, when I went back
02:05to New York and I voted early, the polling site was a little crowded. Usually when I go,
02:11it's not that way. It's just like me and maybe one other person and the little ladies who work
02:17the polls. Many of them know me because they've been seeing me for so long, and they want to take
02:22pictures and smile and laugh and talk and do all that. They didn't have time for that. They were
02:26like, hey, how you doing? They were down in the papers and making sure people think they were
02:31dealing with inquiries and issues. So that was a good sign. And the other thing is, as I was walking
02:38out, you know, people know me. You know, I have a pretty recognizable face. And so as I was walking
02:44out, there were women coming in like, you know, I'm going in here to handle it right now. So there
02:50was a whole, it was like a whole thing, an unspoken, we got business to take care of, and I'm here
02:57today just like you are to make sure that it happens.
03:01But let me ask you about for those who are still on the fence, and I've heard you say,
03:06you can't, there's no way you're on the fence still about who it is, but on the fence about
03:11voting, what is your message to them? Why should they use voting as a method to help get their
03:18voices heard?
03:20Well, I think if you're still looking for your funny Valentine or your sweet date or somebody
03:27who you can, you know, take to prom or take home to mom and dad, you're looking for the wrong
03:32thing. I think that if that's what's holding you up, that you're still trying to like the
03:38candidate so much that it gives you some, you know, a level of excitement to the point that
03:44you're running to the polls, that's probably not going to happen in the next few hours. And it may
03:51never happen at all in, you know, in with these particular candidates in mind. But what we should
03:58be looking for are people who we feel like some of at least the majority of our value system is
04:05shared with this individual and with the group of people who will be working on issues alongside
04:13this person with a party that aligns with your value system, that you're, you don't feel like
04:18your entire moral compass is being violated, is being in many ways sort of crushed, right? Because
04:28there are people out here that certain things, if you got two or more issues that you're like,
04:33I literally, this impacts my moral fiber, that's a problem. But when you can look at someone and
04:40say, well, I have these two or three issues, but I have 10 that I think you and I are more aligned
04:46on, then you've got to make the decision to go with that individual. And there's not a lot of
04:51time at this point to continue to deliberate that. Maybe you will all the way to the polls, but you
04:56can't not show up. You can't not get there. I mean, when I walked in, I'll be honest with you,
05:02I was so caught up in this idea that I'm going to defeat Donald Trump. That's me saying that.
05:09I'm not, I don't know exactly where we stand, C4, C3, nonpartisan or not on this program, but I'm
05:14saying that was my mindset when I went to the polls. And so I was so caught up in that, I forgot
05:22to read the ballot in advance to, you know, figure out all the other things, the propositions on the
05:28back of the ballot. I forgot. And so when I got there and I read it, it took me longer to vote
05:33than usual because usually I've, usually I got a little paper in my hand. I know exactly what I'm
05:38going to do. But this time I had to actually think, I forgot about the fact that there was going to be
05:43about five different judges. Two of them, thankfully, I knew their names, but if I didn't know
05:48them, I would have really been stunned. And then the propositions, I knew a few of the issues,
05:53I was able to kind of move through it, but I had to read deeply there at the polling location,
05:59which I usually don't do. And so I'm saying that to say, if you're undecided, just know that you
06:04have to show up because there are other people on the ballot outside of the presidential candidates
06:10that we need to ensure we weigh in so that we have the ability to move things on a local level.
06:16So I hope that no one sits at home because they're not feeling like their funny Valentine
06:23is up for election. That's probably not going to happen. It's probably not going to be your
06:27situation, but you still have a responsibility to get to the polls. And I'll say, this is the
06:32last thing on that. We have to have someone who we believe we can at least fight, right?
06:37There's one side of the coin, in my opinion, my opinion, that you can't even have audience with
06:44them. You can't talk to them. You don't have a person like Alfonso David, who will more than
06:49likely, if you're not in an administration, at least be close enough to make phone calls when
06:53there are problems. You have no one that you can talk to with one group of individuals.
06:58And on the other side, how I made my decision is I know when I'm ready to protest against these
07:03people, at least they know my name. At least they respect me enough that I can get a meeting
07:08afterwards because I'm definitely going to be protesting whoever the next president is. And
07:13I might protest more if the person looks like me.
07:18Okay. You just dropped a bunch of gems there, Tameka. And I think one, I just want to
07:22draw out two strands. One for folks, if you're going to be voting tomorrow, you can actually
07:28get information about who is on the ballot tonight. You can do your research before you
07:34show up. You can go to vote.org. You can get all of that information so that you're not standing
07:40voting and then getting all of that information or trying to process it for the first time.
07:45That's incredibly important and I want to make sure. And the second point that I think you made
07:49is very, very important, which is we may not agree with all of the issues that either candidate is
07:55advancing, but if you don't have an audience with one and you have an audience with another,
07:59you actually have an ability to affect change. Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm going to fight no
08:05matter what, but I need to have an opponent that I can at least reason with, right? I don't want to
08:10be out there fighting with somebody that I know their intention ultimately will be to silence me.
08:20Oh no. Oh no. We'll wait to see if she comes back.
08:23We just lost Mika. She will hopefully come back. We have one last question for her.
08:29I am glad that you brought her or that you piggybacked off of what she said
08:34on looking at your ballot ahead of time. It is so important. I did do that.
08:41It's so important. Y'all not going to kill me today. I did do that. And here's why,
08:46because I don't think sometimes the way, and there's been an issue with this, the way certain
08:51referendums are worded, you may be thinking you're voting one way and you're actually voting another
08:57way. And they found that in various states. So make sure you know what is on the ballot.
09:04Even if you have to look up certain stories or new stories to really break it down,
09:09what that really means. And the judges, when she brought up the judges, I'm telling you,
09:15the judicial system is on the ballot and it's so important that you know what judges that you are
09:22voting for, because that's going to make one of the biggest differences in your area as well.
09:27Yeah. Sorry, I got cut off. I'm actually doing this from a band that is our production studio.
09:36We're outside, we're in Detroit. Today we hosted a bunch of stuff. I mean, yesterday we got to
09:43Detroit and traveled straight to Saginaw, Michigan, where if we are able to close the gap there,
09:50we could actually move the needle in terms of people who show up just to vote in general.
09:55Lots of Black folks in Saginaw who are untouched. They have not been talked to. We're not doing
10:00partisan work, but we are at least able to get people to get up and get to the polls. And so
10:05we went to Saginaw yesterday. Some of our folks went back today. And then we hosted for the
10:11students of Wayne State. On yesterday, they had a mini conference. And on today, we had a concert
10:18for them where we allowed them to bring in artists that they wanted from the Detroit area and other
10:24places. And now we're hosting an after party for them. We partnered with them. We let them
10:29make the plan, do all the things on their own. And the only thing they need to do to pay us back is
10:36to, first of all, vote tomorrow and also to bring other young people with them from their campus and
10:42from the surrounding area to show up to the polls. So I'm actually sitting outside in a production
10:47van with Pastor Michael McBride, who's one of the greatest organizers in the country.
10:54Hey, Pastor Mike.
10:55Yeah. Hey, Pastor Mike. Thank you. Thank you. Tamika, thank you for joining us. We have one
11:00last question for you before we move on. A lot of folks out there, and we talked about folks who may
11:06ultimately decide not to vote, but you also have another cluster of folks who may decide not to
11:12vote as a form of protest. Talk to us a little bit about how you engage with those who are
11:17thinking about not voting and they think not voting is a legitimate form of protest.
11:23Yeah. Well, let me start off by saying that there are people who are very concerned about
11:29an issue like what is happening to the Palestinian people. And I support and understand,
11:36and I get that some folks just feel like they cannot bring themselves to vote for a candidate
11:42who has at least been a bystander in a situation where genocide is what is happening. That is our
11:52100 percent feeling about what is taking place in Gaza and around Gaza, places like the West Bank
12:00and other places in that region. And so there are folks that are out there. I have my Arab brothers
12:06and sisters, my Muslim brothers and sisters who have said under no circumstance can they vote for
12:12this administration. Some of them are not even feeling that they should be voting at all.
12:18And I can tell you that I don't argue with them and tell them that they're wrong because they are
12:22literally watching their loved ones be blown to smithereens in front of their faces, whether it
12:28be on camera or conversation, you know, knowing about things that's happening to their family
12:32members. There are literally Arab Americans and other Muslim Americans who are dying from
12:39heartbreak of what is happening. We have we've been hearing a lot about that since we've been
12:43in Michigan, which is a state where a lot of Arabs and Muslims live. And so I don't argue with
12:51them. I just you know, I may I try to have those conversations and to encourage them to understand
12:57that we will not leave them, that we will continue to stand by them and continue to fight alongside
13:03them to see a ceasefire. But we're at the point beyond even that. And so an arms embargo is what
13:09we are now fighting for. And I believe that we should all be engaged in that. And so I want to
13:14put that there. I think that, however, there have been a number of folks who have said to me, how
13:20dare you? How can you vote for a candidate who has been engaged in this? And while Vice President
13:27Harris has said that she wants to see a ceasefire and she wants to see an immediate end to the war
13:33on the people of Gaza at this. And she actually said she wants to see an end to the war. So let
13:38me not put words in her mouth. But while she has said that, she's also said that she will not change
13:46the conditions for which the relationship between America and Israel exists. And that for us is very
13:53problematic. And again, it has marginalized a lot of folks. Now, those individuals and some others
13:59have said, how can you support that? How can you be a part of it? It is hypocritical. It's
14:04all these things. There's a big conflict there. And I don't argue with them either, other than to
14:10say that, yes, there is the genocidal maniac in Netanyahu, Bibi Netanyahu, but there's also
14:16another genocidal maniac that will impact the lives of Black people here where I work, live,
14:22and have to survive and breathe every single day of my life. From 2015, when Donald Trump was
14:29running for president, all the way until the day he left, and there is still the residual effects
14:35of him being president. My own personal life has been in danger more than ever before. And I've
14:41been in this movement for 30 years. I was targeted. I have had police officers targeting me.
14:48I have been listed on some of those, the Black identity extremist list that was out there to
14:55identify those of us who they would consider the enemy within, which is some of the language and
15:00the rhetoric that we're hearing today. When we were in Kentucky fighting for Breonna Taylor,
15:06the surveillance, the drones over my house, Black helicopters flying over us, and then the ways in
15:12which we were addressed by normal citizens who we've encountered regular, you know, folks who
15:19are white supremacists in their mind or whatever you want to call them. We've dealt with that for
15:23a long time. But the vitriol and the way in which they approached us during, after Donald Trump was
15:30president, it was a different feeling. And if you don't know that, I'm sorry to tell you that
15:36unfortunately, I cannot allow him to be president, not because of an issue. You know, you could say
15:42he's fine for you, but he don't work for me personally. I could be talking about, I could be
15:47sitting here and telling you, well, he doesn't work for Black men or he's a danger to the immigrant
15:52population. He's an immigrant to this community. All of that's cool. I'm talking about Tamika
15:57Danielle Mallory. I, what I experienced under a Donald Trump presidency was something that I would
16:04never, ever want to experience again. There were people who believed that because he had been
16:10president, he put a target on our backs, that they were therefore emboldened to mistreat and
16:17to really cause violence to happen towards us while we were out there in those streets. So
16:23I personally cannot support a Donald Trump presidency, but I also can't sit at home.
16:28I can't vote third party. I would love to. I love Cornel West. He is a fighter that's been alongside
16:35me for a long time, and I've been with him. He has taught me. He's been a teacher, a motivator,
16:41a teacher to so many of us in this movement. And I love Cornel West. I would love to see him be
16:47president. But I know that if I vote for Cornel West in this moment, especially if I lived in a
16:52swing state, I would ultimately be helping Donald Trump become president. So I know that it's hard
16:58for people to understand, but there's genocide over there. And then there's also genocide over
17:04here. My Black son, who just called me because he's in the airport headed to New York so that
17:10he can vote tomorrow, he's calling me, which is actually what cut me off on this call a few
17:16moments ago. When I look at him, I know that he is the number one target for a Donald Trump
17:22presidency. I understand that as a Black young man, he's exactly who they want. They have,
17:29you know, juice in their mouth for my son to go to prison, to be dead, to be incarcerated,
17:36for him to be killed from either his own and or someone else. And I know that I only have
17:43a very small window to be able to fight for and to save him and my two-year-old granddaughter,
17:49who I want to have more rights in her lifetime than what I had. I don't want her to have less
17:55than even what my mother has fought to ensure that we have. And so I have no choice but to show
18:02up and make sure that I at least, I'm protesting too. There's some people that's protesting by not
18:08voting. There's some people that's protesting by voting third party. I'm protesting because
18:14I'm voting against Donald Trump. Tameka Mallory. Tameka Mallory.
18:21Okay. That was a sermon. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your passion. Thank you
18:28for your advocacy. I know you had a lot going on tonight. Thank you for carving out some time to
18:32join us. Thank you. I appreciate you. I love y'all. I hope to see you again for this conversation on
18:38the other side, because I think what will help people feel a little bit better about participating
18:44is knowing that we are willing to contribute and to be a part of the November 6th dialogue.
18:51What takes place after this election and how are we going to continue to bring the issues? Because
18:56the issues that Black men and others have been raising, it's not that those issues are wrong.
19:02It's that we have to have a different strategy for how we're going to address it than to throw
19:07this election. But I want to be in the trenches with our family members who are out here saying,
19:12I want more health care. I want better housing. I want equal opportunities. I want to be in the
19:19trenches with you. And so I look forward to the November 6th conversation.
19:24And we will be calling you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.