Transcript
Charlamagne Tha God (0:00)
Listen to me. This is Charlamagne tha God talking. If you're not on prime, you're missing out. Prime's not just fast free delivery, although that is definitely a big perk. It's a collection of excellent services that help you get more out of whatever passions you're into or getting into. Like right now I am really getting into past life regression therapy and there's so many books about it on Prime. So you can order books with prime or even listen to content on Amazon Music. Whether you're binge watching the latest on prime video, listening to music on Amazon Music, or getting those last minute gifts dropped at your door with prime, same day free delivery with customers get closer to what they care about. Whatever you're into, it's all on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime now.
Osvaldo Jin (0:38)
Do you want to see into the future? Do you want to understand an invisible force that's shaping your life? Do you want to experience the frontiers of what makes us human? On tech stuff we travel from the mines of Congo to the surface of Mars, from conversations with Nobel Prize winners to the depths of TikTok to ask burning questions about technology, from high tech to low culture, and everywhere in between. Join us Listen to tech stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ashlyn Harris (1:08)
We all have a moment that splits us Wide open. On my new podcast, Wide Open with Ashlin Harris. I'll sit down with trailblazers from sports, music, fashion, entertainment and politics to explore their toughest moments and the incredible comebacks that followed. Listen to Wide Open with Ashlin Harris, an iHeart women's sports production on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
John O'Bryant (1:35)
Presented by E L F Beauty, founding partner of I heart women's sports.
Erica and Mila (1:39)
The OGs of uncensored motherhood are back and badder than ever. I'm Erica. And I'm Mila. And we're the hosts of the Good Moms Bad Choices podcast brought to you by the Black Effect Podcast Network every Wednesday. Yeah, we're moms, but not your mommy. Historically, men talk too much and women have quietly listened. And all that stops here. If you like witty women, then this is your choice. Listen to the Good Mom's Bad Choices podcasts every Wednesday on the Black Effect podcast network, the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you go to find your podcast.
John O'Bryant (2:09)
Welcome to Money and wealth with John O'Bryant, a production of the Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Yo, John O'Brien. This is Money and wealth on the Black Effect network. And today's episode is quite special. It is the answer to dei. It's Beyonce, actually. Yeah, you heard it right. I'm going to say it again. The answer to DE and I. Diversity, equity and inclusion. In the debate raging today, what is the answer? It's Beyonce, actually. What do I mean by that? Today we're going to talk about Beyonce and her historic album of the year win at the Grammys and what that means for the conversation around diversity, equity and inclusion. Or as I like to call it, inclusive economics, a phrase that I began to coin with my brother Charlemagne, thy God, who has this enormously popular morning show, the Breakfast Club, where I first broke my philosophy around what I thought DE and I really meant, which was really research and development for new markets is where you cultivate the future. It's R and D for companies and for communities and for the country. But it's been weaponized and politicized. So let's put it aside and have a real conversation about the stuff that really matters, and let's get into it right now. Here's the big idea again. Beyonce is the answer to D, E and I. We're in this new era. The best way forward for African Americans and others isn't about begging for a seat at the table. It's about building the table and becoming so good that we can't be ignored. Or as my friend Stephanie Rule would say, expand the table and add a seat. Beyonce just showed the world what it looks like when you dominate a space that was historically not built for you. And in her particular case, it was country music and became the standard. I'm going to say it again. Beyonce just showed the world what it looks like when she dominates a space that was historically not built for her. Country music and became the standard. Think about what that means. Think about how serious that is. And there's no hate on anybody else's. No. No shade on anybody else's. It's not putting anybody down. I mean, she paid the highest compliment to country music by participating in it, by wanting to be part of it. She'd already dominated other genres. She had already killed it in our popular culture for African American music. She could have done a lot of different things. She could have done some predictable things. She could have gone into spaces that were easier pathways, and she went into an area that no one expected. And I'm sure most people questioned country music and absolutely killed it. Beyonce's trailblazing impact. She just became the first black woman to win album of the year for a country album. Something unheard of decades ago. She didn't wait for permission. She delivered excellence on her own terms. What's the lesson here? Economic power doesn't come from waiting. It comes from owning your skills and proving your worth in the marketplace, the marketplaces of ideas. What's a patent? It's a monetized idea. What's the biggest country's biggest economy in the world? It also is the places with the most patents, where it's places that have no economic activity. They're dying places that have no patents. Places that are stuck in war, Stuck and stupid. Arguing about, well, arguing to argue all the time. These are places in the world that are not progressing. But a patent is a monetized idea, and Beyonce is a walking, talking, singing patent of excellence. Think about this. What's the parallel to business and finance? Just like Beyonce took over country music, black entrepreneurs and professionals should focus on dominating their industries, from real estate to technology to finance. You can't change the rules by arguing. You can change them by winning. Beyonce is not alone, by the way. She's my real framework for this conversation. And I'm going to go through a roll call of enormous success stories before I finish this podcast episode to give you a wider lens of what's possible when you focus on the right objective. But let me just give you some easy ones. Dr. Dre dominated in music and then pivoted. Anybody, Anybody who's of color who started off in sports or in music and became a billionaire did it by pivoting to business. But it's not an easy pivot. Who did that successfully and dominated in two areas. Dr. Dre and then Beats by Dre. Okay, the headphones, which is now a, you know, a billion dollar enterprise. Michael Jordan, basketball and then Air Jordans. Okay? Merchandise, tennis shoes, in his case, Magic Johnson basketball. Switching to business. Multi dimensional Magic is a friend. And somebody who I work with a little bit after the Rodney King riots in South Central LA in 1992 would have been admiring his success and rooting for him ever since. We should be rooting for each other's excellence. The Williams sisters dominated in tennis, a sport that supposedly black folks could not, should not, would not have not succeeded. Look at the black Forbes 50 list that just came out in December of 2024. I happen to be one of the people included in that list now. Come back to my story in a moment. But look at that list. That, that is, it's the opposite of mediocrity. It's. It's Excellence on steroids. No one on that list is going to be denied. And they're from a broad cross section of killing it. Not killing you, not killing me, not killing somebody else. Killing it. Like being the absolute best in their industry, in their chosen profession, by the way. You can't make this up. Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. That's an Andrew Young quote. While I'm doing this podcast episode. Can't make this up. One of the fellow nominees, fellow awardees in the Forbes Block 50 list who really in some ways is in small part or no, in a part, a large part. I mean, a small part of our history, but Our timeline of 32 years at Opera show, but a large part of a demarcation where I got legitimized of my success in really saying to the world, this guy is real. Just emailed me. None other than Oprah Winfrey, who's on this list and is one of the people I had planned on identifying. Actually, when I sent her a note, I said, you are the standard bearer for the race. And I mean it. I mean, she is as close to black royalty as it gets. And she killed it. Coming from nothing. Being shortchanged on her credibility and her talents in Chicago, being short shifted by being told that she could only be a newscaster, a broadcaster, a local. Do this traditionally. Read the script, don't get off message. And she decided she was going to create a national platform, a national show, and then do it her own way and bring spirituality in it. Initially, people did not follow her, but she stayed with it and became the absolute best at what she did. Killed it. Oprah's not black. She's global. Who happens to be proud. The fact that she's black, right? She doesn't run away from it, but she doesn't hide underneath it. And she's not trying to get a discount because of it. She stands on this mantle of excellence and says, you can do it too. And she gave me the Oprah Winfrey use your life award, which during the Oprah Winfrey show when she did these awards and I had my mother and father on the show, it was a moment I absolutely treasure. And she said to the world, John Bryan is somebody. And the rest was up to me. I believe in the James Brown version of affirmative action. Open the door, I'll get it myself. And thanks to her and others, I have been getting at it. But no one gets it there by yourself. Right? But no one owes you anything either. When you get that shot, you take it and you own the field. You own the field. And you make people who are rooting for you proud that they backed you. Don't embarrass them. And always be humble and be appreciative. Quincy Jones, another mentor of mine, another iconic doer who's now doing it in heaven, once lifted Oprah Winfrey up. And then, of course, he was so proud of Oprah that he put the Oprah suite in. In his home that I've stayed at before. God rest again. God rest Quincy's soul. So Quincy helped Oprah. I think it was Color Purple. Oprah helped me and a range of others to come up. Who are you going to help? And I'm sure there's no doubt in my mind that Beyonce is already leaning in. As she said in her acceptance speech, this is all about opening doors. Beyonce's trailblazing impact again. She just became this iconic figure that you never take this away from her. That went from one genre to another, and for the first time ever, became album of the year for country music. The new conversation is inclusive economics. Whether it's black or white or red or blue, meaning race or color that people want to argue about, really, the color is green, as in US Currency, at least here in the United States of America. But it's always been about green. We just have been distracted with other, well, distractions. What did Malcolm X say? We've been bamboozled. We've been tricked. We've been fooled. We've been hoodwinked. Right. And we've been emotional, and we now need to get focused on what really matters. And when you get emotional, it's easy to be deceived, to be disillusioned, to be dismissed. De and I has been weaponized, I think, for political purposes, but it doesn't matter. It's been weaponized. It's been hijacked, and it's been played with and been made toxic in many ways. As a brand. Some companies are rolling back their diversity programs. I've talked to a number of these CEOs who run these big companies. They're good people. They basically said, I'm still going to keep. I'm still committed to these values because it's good for business and they're good people, but it's also just good for business. They just don't want to have a flag out there that says, come hit me over the head if you disagree with me politically in making them a target. So they've backed away. Most of these CEOs are good people, backed away from the label, but not the cause. There are a few of these companies that are disingenuous and didn't mean it when they did in the first place. And I won't name those companies because that's not the way I roll. By the way, here's my philosophy for life. Talk without being offensive, listen without being defensive and always leave even your adversary with their dignity because if you don't, they'll spend the rest of their trying to make you miserable. It becomes personal. So I don't spend time arguing with stupid people. I mean to argue with the foolproofs. There are two I think Again, I like math because it doesn't have an opinion. That's a Melody Hobson quote I use a lot. And you're about to see the math is really here, all that matters. So we need a new framework. De and I has been weaponized and played with. We need a new framework, one based on economic empowerment. That's why I call it inclusive economics. It's about participation, not politics. The data that proves this approach works is from the Business Plan for America which I wrote and you can look up on my website Operation Hope and download all of the data and go through it for yourself in as much detail as you like. It is there and it is unimpeachable. It's sourced, it's fact based, it's not emotional, it's not partisan. It's not Republican or Democrat or black or white or urban liberal. It's not rich or poor. It's just data and it's, it is. And no one's ever argued with these numbers. I've never had one person institution would ever tell me that the numbers are wrong. They, they just try to ignore me and hope I'll go away. I'm not going anywhere. Again, we're just getting louder with this message. But when you. But you don't need to scream and holler because when you got the power, you don't need to use it. Step over mess, not in it. Here's some power for you. Black buying power. Over $1.8 trillion yet underutilized in asset building, entrepreneurship growth. Black businesses are growing at the fastest rate ever but face major capital access gaps. In fact, after the pandemic the fastest growing group coming out of the pandemic were African American black owned businesses. And the fastest group amongst all fastest group were black women owned businesses. In fact it was the fastest group, it was the fastest growing group of small business owners since 2004 after the pandemic and now I believe it's Latinos by the way, so kudos there. Homeownership impact. Closing the black homeownership gap could add over $3 trillion to the U.S. economy. Did you hear what I just said? This is, these are real numbers. Closing the black homeownership gap with financially literate, well prepared new home buyers could add over $3 trillion to the U.S. economy. So the Delta, the difference between black homeownership and their mainstream counterparts, Reed White it's about 30% and that's where this $3 trillion comes from. You know, fighting the good fight is not just about fighting in the streets. In the suites. Sometimes you got to fight the argument with your brothers and sisters in the streets. So sometimes I'll be talking about this stuff about homeownership and brother will say, oh, you know, I, I don't want to own no home. That open home is stupid. You own a home, the bank owns a home. If you don't pay about excellence, people is by stepping up, you gotta look, pay your bills, right? If you, as long as you pay your bill, the bank does not own that home. They own the mortgage, the rights to the mortgage on that home. You get the benefits of that mortgage through tax write off and all that stuff and appreciation from owning that home, right? And some people will tell you not to own a home on major TV broadcasts. These wealth people telling you shouldn't own a home, own a home, right? So I have no idea what's going on there other than the fact that they don't look at their 40 room mansions as, as, as primary assets. That's because they've grown out of that long time ago. They don't remember, they don't remember their humble beginnings. But for most people, home ownership is the easiest way to build wealth. AI and the future of work. The next frontier isn't just D E N I. It's AI. Literacy and ownership in emerging markets, emerging industries.