← Not All Hood (NAH) with Malcolm-Jamal Warner & Candace Kelley
Not All Hood (NAH) with Malcolm-Jamal Warner & Candace Kelley
NAH: The Weekly Drop- DC Squatter Crisis, Housing Loopholes & Black History Today | Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries & Big Mama | NAH Weekly Drop
01:06:25
On Not All Hood: The Weekly Drop, Candace Kelley breaks down the biggest headlines shaping everyday life, culture, and civic awareness. This episode examines the end of the penny and how rounding up prices impacts cash users, especially in marginalized communities. The conversation then turns to the viral Washington, D.C. Airbnb squatter case, unpacking tenant rights, housing loopholes, community accountability, and what this story reveals about the current housing crisis. Historian and educator Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries joins the show to connect Black history to present-day civic engagement, exploring systemic racism, voting, protest, boycotts, and the role of grassroots organizing in creating real change. The episode also addresses misinformation in the digital age, including viral celebrity hoaxes, the responsibility of social media platforms, and how false narratives spread online. The discussion expands into culture and media with an honest conversation about hip-hop’s influe...
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- [00:01]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
We're going live right now.
- [00:09]
Candace Kelly
All right. I think we're live. We're live. All right. Hey, everybody. Good to see you here on the Not All Hood Drop. I'm Candace Kelly. Listen, this is the second edition of this show. We are going to be going live every Sunday at 7pm we have some great guests tonight to really break down a lot of issues that you know about, some really, really hot topics. And before we get into our guest today, I just want to talk a little bit about some things that have been going on in my world. And you know what's interesting is that the other day I was at shoprite and this has to do with the penny, which we know they stopped making the penny some months ago, but I was in the line at shoprite and there was a man and he was screaming, I want my penny. I want my penny. I didn't know what he's talking about until I saw this sign up at the shoprite and talking about because the fact that the penny is no longer made, that they are rounding up to either $0.05 or they are rounding up to the next dollar or $0.10. So, for example, if your bill ends in three or four, it's going to be round up to $0.05. Or if it ends in eight or nine, it's going to be round up to $0.10. So this man was saying, listen, I know they're not making these pennies anymore, but y' all have some pennies to give me back. At the very least, don't just round up and make me pay more. Right, because you're making me pay more because of the fact that I'm ending in an 8 or a 9. And I saw him walk all the way to the front and get his penny. And you know what? More power to him and more power to the fact that, you know, we. Some people collect pennies. You know, we find them in the bottom of our purse, we find them in the couch. But really, those pennies are going to come in handy. Why? Because you can pay exact change. You'd have to get more into the cash mode, but you pay exact change with your penny or else they are going to be rounding up if you have a cash transaction. So if you have a cash transaction, get those pennies out of your couch, get those pennies out of your purse. Get them out. Because or else it will cost you. All right, I want to move on to another topic. Listen, this Airbnb situation has a lot of people talking. They're talking about the Airbnb situation out in Washington, D.C. i'm sure that a lot of you have seen the video. There was a woman by the name of Shadija Romero. She rented a home in northwest Washington, D.C. she rented it for a little over 30 days, from what I believe. And at that point. Point, she believed that she was able to claim tenants rights. So when that happened, of course, her landlord was like, yo, no, we're not. We are not doing that, right? You. You can't be a tenant. You can't be a tenant if we have, in fact, signed an Airbnb contract. Well, this woman really pressed the case. And if you're following the case, you will realize that she's been evicted a number of times. And in those times, you know, you get to kind of know the law. So she was really taking her chance and kind of just going with the flow. She moved into this house to begin with because her home or her apartment had caught on fire. Now, these reports that are coming out are saying that, Listen, we've gone back into your records, and now we know that that fire was a fire that actually only started in your apartment. I have a feeling that we are going to hear more about this story because of the fact that there's so much. So much evidence that has been in her past that lead to the fact that there might be going some. Something might be going on that she might have something to do with. Listen, it was a long battle. It was months. And it was found out based upon evidence that was brought in the court, because she eventually did have to go through the eviction process. What was brought out was that she had gone through this before. Now, in this situation, here's why I think is really interesting. I mean, won't you be my neighbor? Let me tell you what the neighbors did. The neighbors collectively got together, and they helped that landlord move that woman's stuff out. Do you know it's cold outside in Washington, D.C. do you know what it takes? I mean, really. It snowed today here in New Jersey. I didn't go outside, but I probably would have helped that landlord who said, listen, this woman needs to be out, and I need your help. The community came together, grabbed all her stuff, even though it was 30 days. Remember, she'd been there for about seven or eight months. They collected and grabbed her stuff. And that is what I call neighborly. Very, very neighborly. Now, listen, apparently, Patti LaBelle is opening up a hospital. Anybody see this? Patti LaBelle is Opening Up a hospital. It's free. It's for the homeless. Calling it America's first 100% free homeless hospital located in an old hospital building on Central Avenue. Folks, folks, we can't believe everything that we need. Now, I think what's interesting is that this isn't a bad story about Patti LaBelle. Normally you hear such bad stories about people and that's where people try to plant seeds of what is not true. Here is a good story about Patti LaBelle, but if you go further, you'll see that Usher all of a sudden was opening up a hospital that was free. You'll see Janet Jackson, same poses, same statues, same ribbon cutting ceremony. And people are going crazy over this fact. Okay, air quote. That Patti LaBelle is opening up this hospital. You know what? I think this has a lot to do with. If you think about just recently, you had Judge Faith and you had Kenny Lattimore, who they filed a defamation suit against these various outlets that were defaming them. They really went hard. It is hard to get someone on defamation. You have to prove these levels of actual malice and knowledge of falsity and reckless disregard for the truth. But they went at it and what they found out, and this does have to do with Patti LaBelle. I'm about to connect the dots. What they found out was that people were spreading misinformation and most of these people were not in their culture. Right. A lot of people that happen to be from Pakistan. And this is just the evidence that came forward and they made the argument that this is actually a question about race, that there are people who are out there who are spreading false information about their relationship in particular, and that they thought that this had to do with race. I am wondering if someone on the other side is saying, well, you know what, I'll spread some good information about somebody. I'm not sure, but it seems to track that because there's so much bad information that's being made up about everybody, black and white. But especially when we look at the defamation case of Judge Faith and Kenny Lattimore, they were definitely honing in on black culture, black people and everything black to make sure that different people, especially public figures, look particularly bad. And so I think that that is what was going on there. And I think that that's really a testament to what we see online, whether or not something is true. The first thing that I did was go to Patti LaBelle's Instagram. If Patti LaBelle opened up a hospital, sure, you're right. She would have had that ribbon cutting ceremony on her Instagram. It wasn't on there. You know, you also have to look at the genericness of. Of the post. Patti LaBelle is opening up a hospital down on Central Avenue. Where? What state? What is the name of the hospital? We have to be better at deciphering what is true, what is not true online, or else you're just going to fall for anything. It's all about that algorithm, folks. And this is something that we want to train ourselves to actually do better in. Listen, one day she may open up a hospital and that will be lovely. It just turns out that she, nor Usher, nor Janet Jackson has yet to open up that hospital. And listen, celebrities single handedly solving the health care system all at once. It did not happen. All right, let us move on to our guest for tonight. I am so excited. I am so excited to have Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries. And he always makes sure that he gets that middle name in there. So I am, you know, paying homage to what your parents did. Dr. Jeffries. He is an associate professor of history at the Ohio State University. He's an educator, an activist, keeping black history at all times and just American history into perspective. Here's one fact, and he's got so many things that are going on, but I love the fact that he was the lead historian and the primary scriptwriter for the renovation of the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Jeffries, good to see you.
- [09:01]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Candace, it's great to be with you. Oh, can you hear me? Okay.
- [09:11]
Candace Kelly
All right, maybe I don't have my volume up. I do not hear Dr. Jeffries here.
- [09:16]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
No.
- [09:18]
Candace Kelly
Let'S see. Talk a little bit more for me.
- [09:21]
Big Mama
Can you hear me now, Candace?
- [09:23]
Candace Kelly
This is what happens when we go live. That's all right, though, folks. You're going to hang out with us here. All right, let's see, let's see, let's see. We are having a little technical difficulty here. That is okay. Why do we do this? Is there a way that we can. Yeah, you can hear him. I cannot hear him now. Therein lies the problem. All right, then you can hear me. I do not hear him at all. All right. And I heard you earlier. Wait a minute, people. We need you to stay with us here. You know, hold on. I like that. Go ahead, take it. Let's see.
- [10:21]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Foreign.
- [10:26]
Candace Kelly
Listen, folks, we're gonna have Dr. Jeffries hold it down for one second. I'm a pop off and I'm gonna pop back on. Here I go. Stay with us.
- [10:34]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
That sounds good. So while. While I'm chilling with the people, you know, there's two things that Candace said that were really fascinating in, in, in, at the top of the hour in the intro. One was the question of pennies up, rounding up. I mean, that's just not a matter of, I think, individuals hanging on to a penny or two. But that really is a reflection of corporate greed. I mean, those, those, those companies, shoprite and others, they could round down.
- [10:59]
Big Mama
Right.
- [10:59]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
But they're making, they're making hundreds of thousands of dollars off of those little pennies. Candace, I was just, I was just riffing on the fact that that penny issue that you were talking about just a second ago isn't just a function of there aren't enough pennies in circulation. I mean, there are. They haven't reduced the number of pennies. I mean, that really is a function of corporate greed. I mean, corporations could round down. Hello, if every, if every customer is, is giving up one or two pennies and a place like Shoprite has what, 50 million customers, 30 million customers or so, then you're talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars going into their pocket for nothing. Right? I mean, so it's, it, you know, it, it, we, we think individually, like, ah, you, that's not a big deal. But that shopper was right. Right. Because this isn't just about taking money from individuals. It's that collective and you know, that's capitalism at its finest. And it's worse.
- [11:49]
Candace Kelly
It is, it is. And you know, there's a lot of bad math around that story. There's not only that, but there's this whole idea that it takes four pennies to make a penny. So it just ends up being bad math there that they're trying to put on us as consumers. And you know, I didn't understand it because, you know, a lot of people, I don't know how much you deal in cash. Lot of people don't. But when I tell you this man was making a ruckus, I was like, what is it with the pennies? What is it? But it's a big deal. Give, give me every day what they're making in pennies over 30 days. I got my mortgage paid. I tell you that.
- [12:22]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
That's it.
- [12:22]
Candace Kelly
No. Oh, definitely, definitely. So it is good to see you during this holiday season. Listen, I want to make sure that we jump right into this because you have so much to share with the world, especially when it comes to black history history. And I just want to start off by asking you what is it that you think we need to be doing in terms of teaching the younger generation about history to make it better so that these 2025s and years that have looked like this year won't be redundant.
- [12:54]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Yeah, no, that's a critical question. And I will say this because I have the opportunity to work with a lot of teachers, a lot of K through 12 teachers, and they're doing a fantastic job in the classroom teaching. Not just, you know, simple sort of, particularly when it comes to questions of history and the like. Not just dates and names. They're teaching truth. They're teaching what has happened and why has it happened. And how does this shape and impact our future? Let me explain. By what I mean, I'm the one. I teach history. I teach history at Ohio, the Ohio State University. I teach history, teach African American history, teach US History. And there's two types of history. There's useful history and there's useless history for black folk. We've always had to deal with useful history, that which not only explains the past to help us make sense of the present, but it's useful because it also prepares us to deal with the challenges of the future. And so when we think about dealing and diving into African American history, to US History, so that we can make sense of kind of what's going on in the moment, we have to turn back the clock. We have to look at what happened in the past. And that's what teachers have been doing. Because when you do that now, we could be doing more of it, of course, but when you begin to do that, then students begin to question. They begin to think critically about the past, but then they actually begin to question what's going on in the present. And that's what we saw in the summer of 2020, Candace. We saw the largest protest in American history following the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the like. And we just brush over it like it didn't happen. 20 to 30 million people, young people, taken to the streets in June. Another 20 to 30 million in July. Largest protest in American history. Why? And students. Because students were asking and challenging the status quo. Not just demanding justice for the victims of police brutality and police violence, but they were also calling for an end to systemic racism. Right. They began to make the connection between discrimination in the past and what needed to change in the present. That's because they were learning about this stuff and saying, no, we insist upon, we demand. We deserve a better future. So we need to be teaching. So what do we need to be teaching? We need to be teaching the truth about America's past that will help us make sense of America's. Present. And that will prepare our students to meet the challenges, to solve the problems that we haven't been able to solve in the future, because that's what they inherit. That's their challenge now.
- [15:15]
Candace Kelly
But what do you say to the disheartened? Because, you know, you can't even say DEI these days. Not really. You really can't. And I work at a university. And if you say it to people, they don't like it. Obviously, we know that. But when it comes to the promises that were made. You mentioned George, George Floyd in 2020. And then we look at the Supreme Court and the way it's stacked and how it's going to be that way, probably, and even with more conservatives, until you and I go to the upper room, what is it that you can share with people to kind of deal with the present right now? And we know history repeats itself. How is it repeating? Like, where are we in that repetitive journey?
- [15:55]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
So I would actually, I actually don't necessarily subscribe to the idea of history repeating itself, particularly in American context, because in order to repeat something, that means that you had to stop doing it in the first place. And when it comes to questions of racism and white supremacy and injustice under the law, like when has America ever stopped doing that? So what we're actually doing is just continuing, we're extending, continuing to do something that we've always been doing that's as deeply embedded in American culture and American law as the founding principles. And so what we're actually seeing, I think in particular, to be specific, is a resurgence, a resurgence of white supremacy right now. It's never gone away. It's always been there. We've just had these moments of success in getting some allies and getting some pushback and gaining some ground. But the more ground you gain, eventually this is what just history tells us, you're going to get that resurgence. And that resurgence in this instance is particularly successful now, the institutions. This is also why teaching history the way it happened is so critically important, because as you mentioned, the Supreme Court and a lot of us are like, man, what's happening? You know, we've lost the Supreme Court. It's really kind of working against us. When has it been working for us? Right? I mean, there is literally a 13 year period, right? 20 at the most, from the Brown decision to Roe v. Wade. I'll give you 20 years. That's called the Warren Court, when the Supreme Court was actively protecting and advancing basic civil rights and human rights for many folk in America. That's it. That's it.
- [17:32]
Candace Kelly
That's all you're going to do.
- [17:33]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
The other 240, 230 years, the Supreme Court has been actively working against extending basic rights for people in America. So what we're facing in this moment, in that instance, when we take that long view of American history, it ain't new. So part of looking back, is saying, okay, how do people deal with these issues in the present? I, I have the great pleasure of working with a number of SNCC activists, student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. As you know, these were young folk back in the 60s who 60 years later, are still organizing, still working. And there was one veteran SNCC activist, Courtland Cox. A bunch of us were sitting around and we were just sort of lamenting the situation that we found ourselves in under the Trump administration. And he sat back and he looked at us and he said, well, what made you think that you weren't going to have to fight for your freedom, too, is that every generation, every generation of black folk have had to fight for their freedom. What made you think you were so special in this world?
- [18:31]
Big Mama
Right.
- [18:32]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
That you weren't going to have to fight for yours? That just means that you have to fight for it now. And he's, and he's so true again, because of that continuum. Right. And so what we need to do, what do we need to do in this moment? We got to figure out how to disrupt once and for all to break that continuum of white supremacy, of racial discrimination, of racial hate, of racial prejudice, and build actually actual democratic institutions to prevent its resurgence again.
- [18:56]
Candace Kelly
You know, there are a lot of different ways that you can do that. We mentioned the courts. Right. We are no longer in the Warren Court. You can take to the streets. You can do it by trying to get a seat at the table. What do you think is the best way in order to make change these days? Maybe the most fluid way or the most impactful way to actually make change throughout?
- [19:17]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Yeah, Candace, the best way is every way. In other words, we have to. We have to let loose every. Every arrow in the quiver so we don't control the Supreme Court and many of the federal courts a little shaky, too. But that doesn't mean that we don't continue to bring cases. So we're going to have, we're going to have our, you know, our lawyers who are actively working to hold the Trump administration and these others who are trying to violate basic civil rights and human rights accountable. We need those who are in elected office, state legislators, we need congresspeople, Right to do the work of challenging the illegal unconstitutional actions at the legislative level. And again, that's from Congress to the state legislature. That means also running candidates and supporting people in these elections coming up so that we can move those who are embraced and who have embraced authoritarianism, who are fundamentally opposed to democracy. We can vote them out of office. So we need that peace. But again, those SNCC activists I get hanging around these old folk. Right. I shouldn't say hanging around these.
- [20:28]
Candace Kelly
I know. Look, I'm gonna give you a chance to correct that.
- [20:30]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Hanging around these seniors with the old folk wisdom is critically important because one of the things that they've. That again, Colin Cox, among others, has said is voting is necessary, but it's insufficient. Right. So you got. That's the least that we can do. Right. We have to be in that political arena. But you can't expect that to be everything that's not going to change everything. So you fight on the legal front, you fight on the legislative, you fight in the ballot box. But then you also have to put pressure on everybody by taking to the streets. I mean, this has to be a grassroots effort. Right. Especially at the local level and our institutions, everybody is in a place. And you mentioned, you know, sort of being in higher education. You know, we have our higher education institutions, I mean, they just collapsing without a fight. Right. I mean, they, they, you know, 60 years of diversity, equity and inclusion programs designed to create success and access. Access and success for historically discriminated groups built up over 60 years gone in a night.
- [21:30]
Big Mama
Right.
- [21:30]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
I mean, just wiped away. So that doesn't mean that in our space that we roll over. That means that we have to find ways to push back. So everyone in their own spaces has something to do. And I think attending those rallies, organizing those rallies, making sure if you're dealing with immigration, it may not affect you directly, but it will eventually making sure that you're supportive of those who are confronting that and have mixed documented families. I mean, there's so much that we can do in this moment. It's not about waiting for somebody else to do it. It's like, what can we do for. For. What can we do in our own spheres of influence?
- [22:07]
Candace Kelly
Yeah. You know, so you mentioned sncc. So as someone who has studied SNCC members and seen them in their, you know, teens and twenties in college, and as someone who hangs out with them in their wiser years and as someone who teaches, what would you say about the student that you're teaching and the students that you know about who started sncc, what is the comparison? Is there a fire? And if there's not a fire, what do you think can start it?
- [22:37]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Yeah, that's a great question. I think the first thing that it's important to sort of understand and sort of create a baseline is the, you know, SNCC as an organization, the young people who are on the front lines. In the late 50s, early 60s, into the 1970s, it was just a handful of people, right? I mean, SNCC at its, at its most, in most places, you know, where it was organizing, they had four, five, six people, right? As an organization, had 200 people. I mean, so it's, in other words, it's not a lot of people, it wasn't a lot of students, Right. Even during the sit ins, you had a core group of people who were organizing, but then, you know, you would have hundreds who will come and participate. But that was only sort of a six month stretch. The point being, it wasn't a lot of people who made a big difference. I mean, they changed the landscape of America. And so in the current moment, we don't have to. The goal isn't to animate or energize or organize. You know, at Ohio State, 70,000 students, all you need is 70. And that 70 begins with seven, right? And I'm telling you, I know seven and I know 70. Right. So while most students are just going through the motions, right, which has always been the case, there is absolutely a sort of critical mass on all of these campuses who are committed, determined to change the world. We saw that a couple springs ago as students were organizing around the war in Gaza, you know, God bless them. But then what happened? You saw a massive crackdown on freedom of speech. You see what's happening with the Trump administration and Department of Education. They were responding to the organizing, activism and success of raising the issues of these young people. So I always have faith in young folk. That number is elastic. Sometimes it's a little more and it will grow more during the Trump administration, the second one, just like it did during the first one. But there are folk who are always there. And what the young people who are always there, we just have to make sure we're in communication with them. They that this becomes an intergenerational dialogue and conversation so that older generation of veteran activists can pass on the wisdom that they learn. And myself as a university professor, as a teacher, I can serve as that conduit to say, hey, this is what they taught us, this is what they did. These are some things that you can do in your own context for the.
- [24:59]
Candace Kelly
21St century, when we talk about something like the boycott. Right. So whether it's Target, whether it's Walmart, Amazon, that does seem to be something that needs to happen en masse. So I'm wondering what your thoughts are about that and that. Well, actually there you do need the numbers in order to make an impact. And don't get me wrong, there is an impact even with some folks still going to Target. But what are your thoughts about that?
- [25:21]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Oh, it's critical. So the idea is when we think about sort of social movement organizing, when I say it doesn't take a lot of people to make a big difference, that's the small number of people, really just a handful who are that dedicated all in lives, they're going to be organizers for the rest of their lives. Like that leaving college, for example, that's like four or five people. But then to think about sort of how do you create social change? To think about it in terms of concentric circles, you get that small group of four or five and then you get another group of 10 or 15 who are listening to what they have to say and they're supporting when they're sort of organizing a campaign. Then you get a larger group of 20 or 30 or 50 who are coming to meetings to hear what's going on. And then you get a larger group of 100 or 200 who are willing to protest outside of the President's house. And then you get a larger group of 400 or 500 or 600 who want to do, who show up for a mass, for a mass demonstration. And what you're talking about is expanding that group to tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands, which we can do now with social media to get the word out to say, hey, here's, here's something that you can do. You don't gotta, you don't gotta, you don't gotta go to a nine hour organizing meeting. You don't gotta go to a mass meeting. All you have to do is keep your money in your pocket and stay away from the stores that has shut their doors on us. And so making sure that we understand those levels and that there's something for everybody to do is the way you create that effective change.
- [26:48]
Candace Kelly
So for someone who's watching this right now, before we move on to our next subject, and they're thinking, I don't know what I can do, they're sitting, you know, in the middle of Kansas somewhere or somewhere in Pennsylvania, like, I'm not an organizer, I'm not a leader. What could they do? Because we know how effective it is to do work on a local level. Literally, what are the ordinances going on in your town? And then you. Normally you build that way and get people into politics on that local level. But is there a place where you would tell people who are watching now who thinks that's not me, and I couldn't do that, how would you tell them to start?
- [27:21]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Yeah, I think the starting is critical. Right. And the question, I guess all the time is a version of what you just share, like, what can I do? Well, what is it that you are most passionate about? Right. Individually, Right. For some. For me it's education. For others, it's health care. For other people, it's economics. I mean, and in each of those areas, no matter where you are, there is an organization that is already on the ground doing something that you can support so you don't have to create from your own, from your own living room. The revolution around economic justice. Right. All you have to do is go to Google and say, who's working around economic justice, who's working around healthcare access? And if that is your passion, and the passion is important because these are lifelong journeys. I mean, we're not solving any of these problems tomorrow, so we need a little bit of a longer commitment and there's things that we can do. So first, knowing and recognizing what it is that you are most passionate about. For some folk, it's the unhoused. It's. My father was a. Both my parents were social workers and my dad was a substance abuse, substance use counselor. Right. I mean, so that was his passion. He said, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to invest my time and energy in that. So there's always stuff that we can do to make this society a little bit more fair, a little bit more just. We just have to recognize and then lean into that. But then at the same time, I think there's always. It's always important to show that sense of solidarity for the bigger issues. Right. And so when we have, whether it's no kings or something local in your neighborhood, it's important for us to show up because those who are in the status quo, the powers that be, they have to see that there are numbers against them. Right? Not just individuals, but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people who are saying, what you are doing is not right. And so we do the small things that no one ever sees. But then also make sure make your presence seen, make your presence known when you see those small rallies or gatherings in public spaces because we have to send a message to the powers that be that there is no hiding. We are all preparing for this longer struggle.
- [29:31]
Candace Kelly
All right, you get a lot of agreement. Let's see. Need my reading glasses. That's the perfect question. You are so right. Someone else wrote before we have to go right through the door. Someone. Kim Quick, 6281, social worker here. Yes, but they're fighting us, too. About to say that we're not considered a profession. Shaking her head. All right, listen, I. I cannot let you go. That's why I left some time without talking about hip hop. Because you have studied and understand hip hop in the. In its context, its history as a cultural phenomenon, something responding to culture, something culture responds to. And we have to talk about the reckoning, sir. And the reason I want to talk about Sean Combs and the reckoning, it's not necessarily about Sean Combs. It's just about the value and the utility of hip hop. And I've heard you speak before, and you said, listen, hip hop is informed by what has become before us. So that means that we are right now informing what's next and with everything that's going on. And there's some great hip hop, but we've got so much light that is shined upon the Sean Combs. What is your take about what everyone is talking about now in terms of that case, in terms of the documentary and its impact? What does it all mean for hip hop?
- [30:56]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
I think we'll be deciding what it all means for years, if not decades to come. I think one of the things that this is revealing, and particularly the documentary, but even the whole Sean Combs case is revealing something about the present, to be sure, but it's really saying a lot about what has come before this period in the 1990s and then moving into the 2000s, the 21st century, where we saw the sort of commercialization of hip hop in a way, and sort of, you know, where we were. The idea of hip hop not just making money, but then it becomes less about a message, less about a commentary, and more about this sort of escapism. Right. I mean, and we're not just talking about appealing to new audiences. It was a cultural shift. Now, you always had the strains of what we people will call conscious hip hop, Conscious rap, that's always been there. The social commentary, the fight, the power. But the corporate emphasis on glitz and glamour, on popping bottles. Right on. I'm going through the club as it then feeds into this culture of sexual exploitation. I mean, we can't be surprised that if we've seen it on screen, that it was happening off camera in this particular way. And so I think what this reckoning that we're having now on an individual level needs to really expand, right? I mean, we certainly need to hold somebody like Sean Combs accountable for all the dirt that he clearly has done over the last several decades. But I think we also need to pause and say, well, how. How do we hold ourselves accountable right now? Look, I was. I was coming out of College in the 1990s. I was. I was. I was. I was, you know, listening and jamming to all this stuff, too.
- [32:45]
Candace Kelly
Well, wait, wait, wait. We can't let you get.
- [32:47]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Fair enough, fair enough.
- [32:48]
Candace Kelly
What were you listening to, sir?
- [32:51]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
I'm a child of Brooklyn, New York, right? I mean, so I was East Coast. I was. I was. Yeah, Tribe Called Quest. I mean, you know, but I was. You know, you had everybody, right? I mean, poor righteous teachers, late, late 80s, early 90s, right? But then you get to. You get to the. You get to the late 90s.
- [33:06]
Big Mama
It was.
- [33:07]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
It was. It was about Biggie and Puffy and, you know, and Harlem World. I mean, that's what they were. That's what they were playing in the clubs. I mean, so we all have this now. You know, I wasn't at any particular parties with my guy, but you all. We were all listening to this. And at what point do we have to hold ourselves accountable and say, you know what? You know, when this was happening, even if we weren't in that inner circle, like, to what extent were we contributing, right, to this kind of culture? That said that. That is all right, right? And, you know, that is. That isn't something, I think, that is necessarily unique to the black community, right? I mean, that's an American phenomena. That's a world phenomenon, the way in which we treat women, but especially women of color, right? And so, you know, what. What was Sean Combs but being the best American capitalist that he could be? The problem is, he was being the best American capitalist that he could be, which is running over people, taking their stuff and the like. So we as a community sometimes have to say, you know what? That may sound good, but I got a problem with the culture that it is actually promoting or saying what is acceptable. And that comes with a little bit of maturity, right? And that comes with time and age and looking back. But then now that we're a little bit removed from it, we have to pause, and we can't hold, you know, we can't, we can't act, we can't ride on our high horse and talk to younger people today. Be like, oh, you shouldn't be listening to that. It's like, well, what were you listening to?
- [34:29]
Candace Kelly
That's right, right, right.
- [34:31]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
We have to do it with some humility and some, some, some guidance. Right. But, but, but then we do have to have that conversation and be like, listen, this isn't about, this is about you being better than what we were. Right. Because look what we learned from those mistakes. Right? So, so let's see how we can be a little better in the production of music, in how we share in what we celebrate, in what we listen to.
- [34:51]
Candace Kelly
Yeah. And let's not forget there is some amazing, inspiring, uplifting hip hop that has taken us through so many movements that often goes unrecognized because it doesn't have a four part series documentary on Netflix. But a lot of that shaped what you were talking about before when people hit the streets in terms of George Floyd. There was music and art behind that. That was a motivator.
- [35:16]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Oh, yeah. And we can never separate sort of the arts and music from sort of the black experience and from social movement change, whether we're talking about in the sixties and freedom songs and R and B and Sam Cooke. Right. All the way up to, you know, to Kendrick Lamar with the start of Black Lives Matter. So we're never going to separate it. And hip hop was sort of a new birth for music and social movement and social commentary. So that ain't going anywhere. We just have to be mindful to say it's okay to have this sort of the broad spectrum where we have the conscious stuff, we have the music that is offering us new insights and causing us to pause and think, but then also have some music that is just about to escape about joy, about love, that's fine. But it has to be done in balance and it has to be done with a sense of love and not a sense of harm.
- [36:11]
Candace Kelly
Yeah. All right, so as we leave, a couple more questions. This is on personal level, what's on your playlist right now you're getting into your car. Help us out.
- [36:20]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Oh, that's no and no.
- [36:23]
Candace Kelly
No judgment. No judgment.
- [36:24]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
No judgment. No, no, no, no. I. Look, you know, I have, I have. I'm a girl, dad. I got three girls, 10, 13, and 15. So when I jump in the car, I'm taking into soccer and volleyball in school. I don't have control over the car. I don't have.
- [36:40]
Big Mama
I Don't have.
- [36:41]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
My playlist is whatever they listening to. Like, I have no. And half of it I have no idea. I'm like, oh, that right. So no, no, no, I'm, I'm, you know, I'm.
- [36:49]
Candace Kelly
Okay, okay. So let me set up differently then. You're at a party. Yeah, a dignified party.
- [36:54]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Dignified part. Good Negroes.
- [36:57]
Candace Kelly
Okay, there we go.
- [36:58]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Okay.
- [36:58]
Candace Kelly
What's getting you up out of your seat though? Like, oh, wait a minute now.
- [37:02]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
We are all. I truly believe this. And this is the sort of the historian social scientists in me. We're all products of our generation, right? The music that we listen to as we were coming of age, right? And is usually the music that moves you most and that's sort of transcendent of sort of age and race and gender. So, you know, I may bop my head to something that's a little bit more recent, but when we go back and I hear some knives, right? When we go back and I hear some, you know, some KRS1 or some Rakim, then I'm like, oh, the party's been up. All right. So I'm very much, I guess we classic hip hop now, right?
- [37:40]
Candace Kelly
Yeah.
- [37:41]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
On the stations. Right. But it's always that. And you know, as my girls get, get a little bit older and soon they'll be headed off to college, I'll regain control of the, of the car radio. Can listen to some a little bit adult lyrics, you know?
- [37:54]
Candace Kelly
Exactly. I went to an Eric B. And Rakim concert once with my sister and we were in there and it was, it was a, it was a theater where everybody was standing. And I mean, you could just see all of us like, oh, where are those seats? And then eventually he took a seat and he talked about him being a grandpa. I was like, okay, he's, he's telling the story.
- [38:14]
Big Mama
He's telling the truth.
- [38:16]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Everybody sit down.
- [38:17]
Candace Kelly
Exactly. Oh, we wish we had seats. Christmas is coming. I need to know what you're bringing. Is it the Mac and cheese? Are you the collard greens guy?
- [38:25]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Oh, no, I, I, I, I am. I, I'm, I'm a taster. I'm a, I'm a connoisseur of. You don't make of the one. No. So I have some recipes in the back pocket, but my wife is and my mother in law. They're the ones who throw down. They, they like, look state, they're like, come here. You clean, right and you can carve. Right.
- [38:44]
Big Mama
There we go.
- [38:45]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Don't mess nothing up. No, no, no. This, Stay out The way. And so I defer. I defer. Now, like I said, I've inherited some recipes, but sometimes you got to know your place, right? If you ain't the main one, don't be trying to go in there and put some sour cream in the Mac and cheese. Just stay away. Let the experts do what they got to do. So I say that with humility and with respect.
- [39:07]
Candace Kelly
I like that. You. You probably would make a good chopper. I know growing up, I was. I was a chopper of the celery. I was a chopper of the collard greens. But you're right. But then I learned I have. I've gone into the kitchen, though, and I can add sour cream where I can. So I wish you luck in this.
- [39:22]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
I appreciate it.
- [39:22]
Candace Kelly
I appreciate it, and I thank you so much for being with us tonight. It was so fun talking to you.
- [39:27]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Absolutely.
- [39:27]
Candace Kelly
It really was. Keep up the good work, and we will look to have you on again. Have a great holiday season.
- [39:32]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Thank you. Thank you. You as well.
- [39:34]
Candace Kelly
Okay. Be well.
- [39:35]
Big Mama
All right.
- [39:37]
Candace Kelly
All right. Likable guy, right? I mean, really, you know, I really understand what he's talking about. When we actually talk about being in the classroom, seeing that next generation come up and just seeing exactly what they're thinking about and listening to. You know, what I found is I found that a lot of these students, when it comes to hip hop, when it comes to music, when it comes to culture, it kind of is all more like, mesh together, you know, I have students that are, you know, into science fiction, and they're black and white, and they're also into rock, but they're also into hip hop. I had a student the other day was 20, not the other day. This was around the time when d' Angelo died. And when I said, hey, what are the current events? What's going on? You know, because I teach the news. And he was like, d' Angelo died. And I was shocked. I was like, oh, okay, y'. All, Ron d'. Angelo. So it's just great. My sister said she went to Erykah Badu concert the other day. She said it was filled with a lot of young people. So, you know, we are bringing our good music into the present generation. And that is a good thing. That is a good thing. All, you know, the older and the younger can come together and appreciate somebody like Erykah Badu or, you know, Rakim. All of that. All of that works. All right, let us move on. I think that we have comedian Big Mama. Let's bring her to the stage. Oh, my Goodness. Oh, my. She's like, here I am. Here I am. Listen, listen, listen. Big Mama or Big Mama Badass, as many people may know. You listen, she unapologetically makes people laugh all the time. You've seen her on Tubi, and you've seen her on prime, and she shared the stage. Or maybe I should say they have shared the stage with her talent, Lunell and Coco Brown.
- [41:22]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
All.
- [41:23]
Candace Kelly
All of them. You've seen her. You know her. Thank you so much for being with us today, bringing some.
- [41:28]
Big Mama
What's up, y'?
- [41:29]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
All?
- [41:29]
Big Mama
Happy Sunday.
- [41:31]
Candace Kelly
And listen, we're gonna get into some headlines here because, you know, there are a lot of things in these headlines that have been making me and you go, what? What? Let's first talk about this D.C. squatter. All right, I talked about it.
- [41:44]
Big Mama
Please, let's talk about her. Let's talk about her.
- [41:46]
Candace Kelly
I mean, really, this is square water rights, right? That went wrong, basically. Listen, I. I am telling you, the way that the community came together, helped her clean out her stuff, really helped the landlord. That was something.
- [42:02]
Big Mama
First of all. First of all. First of all, who in the hell do you. How early did she wake up to come up with this plan to be a squatter? Like, who does that?
- [42:14]
Candace Kelly
Who.
- [42:14]
Big Mama
How do you just say, you know, what. What you gonna do today? I'm gonna take over somebody's. Girl, what you doing today, girl? I'm about to go outside and be a minister. Society. Like, what is wrong with you?
- [42:25]
Candace Kelly
Yeah, yeah. You know, and it was something that. Something that there's apparently evidence that she had tried before. And, you know, I think what's. What's crazy is that the landlord actually at one point offered her $2,500 to basically leave and say, listen, just. Just. I will give you money to go away. She was losing so much money, she said, I will give you more money to go away. But that plan did not work.
- [42:52]
Big Mama
The girl was on vacation. She was out here doing cartwheels and carrying on. No, no, no, no. First of all, there's probably more people like her, so we need to investigate them and shut their little whole system down, because she not just the only one I heard doing this by herself. There's no way. Like, she. The lady. The poor lady put a sheet up to cover the sign. No, the. The landlord put a sign up saying, this girl's here illegally, and the girl gonna put a sheet up on the outside of that. What is wrong with you?
- [43:25]
Candace Kelly
Oh, my goodness. Yeah, it was really one of those things. It got a lot of people to think Airbnb said, listen, since it's outside of the Airbnb kind of time frame, we're not involved. I was like, really?
- [43:37]
Big Mama
But there's no. You're not going. See? No, no, no. First of all, I don't know what Airbnb's rules are. I don't do Airbnb. Okay, I'm lying. I've done Airbnbs with my sister in law. She like we, we done one in Delaware and a couple other places. But like when I go on vacation, I'm at a hotel. But what kind of mind do you have to say, like, you know what, I'm about to move all my in here. Like I like this place. Girl, if the time was to move out, what. What kind of mind does she have to say it? I'm staying. I'm not leaving here.
- [44:14]
Candace Kelly
But like you said, it's calculated. It's calculated when someone gets to that point because did you see all the stuff that they were moving out?
- [44:21]
Big Mama
I mean, girl, nothing but trash. The poor lady, she ran up the lady's water bill. The lady couldn't get in there to see what the wrong was with the leak. And then this my other thing, like, did you just have she in packages? Because don't none of that mean nothing to you?
- [44:38]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
You just.
- [44:38]
Big Mama
They threw all your outside, right? None of that. You need no toothbrush or two. So that means you don't go somewhere else to be another minister of society.
- [44:49]
Candace Kelly
Exactly. Yeah. Because why it was a lot of stuff. You're right.
- [44:53]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Your friends.
- [44:54]
Big Mama
What kind of friends do you have?
- [44:55]
Candace Kelly
Now that's a good question.
- [44:57]
Big Mama
What kind of friends do you have that know that you this trifling. Because if I find out that one of my friends is this trifle. We not friends no more. You're not talking to Christmas, Thanksgiving. I don't want to do no gift exchange. No, no, we're not friends no more.
- [45:10]
Candace Kelly
Yeah, I don't know who her friends were. I don't know if she had kids. But that, that is a very good question. If. If I'm seeing a friend of mine on tv, I am wondering what. What's going on. I also found it interesting that there was a fire in the place where she was before.
- [45:24]
Big Mama
I'm not the one that she probably lit.
- [45:27]
Candace Kelly
See, now I was gonna say. I'm not alleging anything. Here you go.
- [45:31]
Big Mama
They can't find me. They. You don't know my real name. I think she started that fire. It was like you. And then first of all. Okay, let's stop. No Shade to the young lady whose home it is. Yes, but if you gonna do an Airbnb girl, do something of stature. You in D.C. the crime rate is high. Like, I'm where I'm gonna do my Airbnb, you know, with a pool. Like, I'm a. Like, I'm gonna need to Airbnb a little bit more. A little bit more husba. You was attached to another house, like a real house in Philly. It wasn't like you was in a house that was with a pool and a. And a. And a grill outside. You was just.
- [46:13]
Candace Kelly
But you know what? You bring a very good point and that, you know, by the way, I like the place. Very spacious. It was hard for me to see what it was like because there was so much stuff and in it. But that brings up a very good point. Whether you're high end, whether you're middle end, whether you're low end. There are people out there. She's not the first.
- [46:31]
Big Mama
That's what I'm telling you. It's a community. It's a community's ninjas. See, I caught myself because you know what I wanted to say? There's a community's ninjas out.
- [46:38]
Candace Kelly
Yes, you wanted to say comrades. That's what we say. This you want to say, comrades, Ma', am.
- [46:43]
Big Mama
These fools is having a meeting right now. Who going to la?
- [46:46]
Candace Kelly
Me.
- [46:47]
Big Mama
Who. Who's going to Miami next? Somebody want to come to New Jersey. All right, let's go find some. Like, what are y' all doing? Like, y' all sitting around planning this?
- [46:55]
Candace Kelly
Oh, my goodness. All right, we gotta move over to this University of Minnesota coach.
- [47:00]
Big Mama
Come on.
- [47:00]
Candace Kelly
I mean, I'm sorry, Michigan. Oh, my, my, my, Sharon.
- [47:04]
Big Mama
Now do you see how fine he looked right there?
- [47:07]
Candace Kelly
He actually. Well, you know, let me tell you, he looks like he's scared. I ain't gonna lie now.
- [47:12]
Big Mama
No, but in that photo, he looked fine. Why is it automatically when he went to jail, he turned ugly? They had him in this little chair in his white outfit. I said, well, damn, he got ugly real quick. Yo, he cute back there. Like, he did a press conference. I was like, so handsome. Baby. When they took him to court last Wednesday, he was in an all white outfit, hand shackle, feet shackle. He looked scared. He just turned up. He kill Michigan logo. Little Nike legs wide up. Oh, gosh, baby, that court picture. He ugly. He hideous.
- [47:50]
Candace Kelly
I don't. Oh, gosh. You know, stress. Stress will work on you overnight.
- [47:55]
Big Mama
He's sitting in that box with that white outfit. I say he Is he on his way to heaven? Where is he going?
- [48:01]
Candace Kelly
He. He. I don't.
- [48:03]
Big Mama
Maybe that's their color. Their color must be white in Michigan. I don't know. But first of all, he to kill himself kicked in her door. Talk about something. You ruined my life. No, no. You ruined your own life. And do you think Becky was gonna care if you would have stood your throat? No, she would not. Was not gonna care.
- [48:23]
Candace Kelly
Yeah. You know, a lot of facts are coming out. I'm gonna say alleged facts, but we did hear a lot in court. Number one, this wasn't something that just happened. This was years going on. So this man was married with three kids and what? I guess he didn't read his contract. Whether you call it a morals part of the contract or they call it a contract, you know, part of the contract that says you can't do anything wrong because you represent the school and we're paying you $6 million a year for five years. Like, you can't. You can't. Why would you muck that up?
- [48:55]
Big Mama
Can I ask a question, please? And if people got to watch it because I got my live on over here. What kind of coochie must you have? Because I don't got that type of coochie that a. I don't. This ain't 6 million. Don't. Don't mess up your life. This. This ain't it. This is not. This is not that type.
- [49:17]
Candace Kelly
Oh, gosh.
- [49:18]
Big Mama
What type of coochie tail must you have to mess up a six. Is there anybody else out there with that type of Gucci?
- [49:31]
Candace Kelly
See, let's see what your viewers say because it sounds like you want in. It sounds like you want the instructions.
- [49:40]
Big Mama
To mess up a 6 million dollar. I don't even know how many zeros that is. I don't know how much taxes come out that check. Does he get paid on the 50th and the 30th? Does he get big bi weekly?
- [49:51]
Candace Kelly
Right.
- [49:52]
Big Mama
I just.
- [49:53]
Candace Kelly
I'm just asking you just asking for a friend.
- [49:56]
Big Mama
Asking for a friend. Okay.
- [49:58]
Candace Kelly
All right. All right. I think a lot of people would like to know that. Because the truth is, that is what he traded in. Now, I always look at these situations and I say, how do they not know how it's going to turn out? We've seen this since we were born.
- [50:13]
Big Mama
She wasn't even cute. She wasn't.
- [50:15]
Candace Kelly
The alleged picture that's out. We can't say any names or anything. We want to make sure. Because listen, she filed paperwork and she was scared and There was violence. You know, I can understand that, but. So I just want to say that before we get into it, but why. Why don't you just divorce your wife? Like, you could do that. Or. Or how about this, you know, you can't have an affair with your staff. You can't. You can't be at work like that.
- [50:41]
Big Mama
With one of the girls from the Brady Bunch. Like, I need you to get it together. You. Now, listen. Had you messed with a Shaniqua or Quanisha.
- [50:50]
Candace Kelly
Oh, well, now, wait a minute.
- [50:51]
Big Mama
They wouldn't have said nothing. She just said, go ahead, cut your throat. Go ahead, use that butter knife, because I gotta get. I'm gonna get my hair done. She was go. She would. He was not gonna make no phone call. She. Listen, get. They said he called her all day. He was stalking her. Yeah, arrested him. That's when he bust through to get to the house. But whatever. Transparent up t would have been quiet. But you wanted to go to Becky, and Becky got tired of you because Becky moved on to Tyrone. Probably got a seven, but a jillion trillion dollar contract. Like, come on. And then you won't go to. I'm. I'm gonna kill myself. Look ahead because I have to go get my nails done. Like, she's not worried about what you gotta do.
- [51:40]
Candace Kelly
All right, well, we have to see what happens with that. He's facing a lot of time. I will also say that I am wondering if this young woman still has a job. What do you think? You think. Do you think the young woman's still there? Because it was.
- [51:52]
Big Mama
I wonder, does she still have a job? Because why, if you. You had the affair with this gentleman, you had the affair with this man. Are you still employed?
- [51:59]
Candace Kelly
Right?
- [51:59]
Big Mama
And then not even that. Like his wife. What these men don't think about is the embarrassment. My children, you're not thinking about none of that. You know what I'm saying? Now, you sitting in the box with this white uniform, looking like Pillsbury Doughboy, looking stupid. How am I supposed to be the class mother now? And how am I supposed to bring gifts to the teachers at school knowing that you out here acting stupid and.
- [52:27]
Candace Kelly
For sure you messed up our Christmas.
- [52:30]
Big Mama
You done messed up Christmas. I can't buy little Johnny the Lamborghini that he wanted.
- [52:39]
Candace Kelly
All right, so let's talk about a story. You buzzed me today. You were like, listen, did you see about this drop that was made at this jail in South Carolina? Drone food drop.
- [52:49]
Big Mama
Look at this. Let's talk about this.
- [52:51]
Candace Kelly
Add this. First of all, this is Like a commercial for old bay in the house. Like all this meat and crabs legs. Don't forget the old Bay and the weed.
- [53:02]
Big Mama
Where do we. You got the weed, they go, where do we at?
- [53:05]
Candace Kelly
That's right. There's the weed. What else is there? Do I see some bread? I see steak. What? Now, by the way, this is not uncommon. You know, there have been people who. Over the years, there are records of people trying to throw stuff over the prison fence. And that's why the fences are so high. That's one of the reasons. But now we're into drone era drops.
- [53:30]
Big Mama
Please ask me. What questions do I have?
- [53:33]
Candace Kelly
What questions do you have about this?
- [53:34]
Big Mama
How do you order? Where, where the rest of the crab boil at? Where the shrimp, where the corn, where the potatoes, where the sausage? Because that was gonna be a full complete crab oil.
- [53:45]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
That was just.
- [53:46]
Big Mama
That was just gonna be. That must have been a surf and turf.
- [53:51]
Candace Kelly
Yeah, you. You needed to add more ingredients. Is that what you're saying? You need the full thing?
- [53:54]
Big Mama
Yeah, leave the weed out. Bring me the rest of the stuff. Okay, I need the sauce. You need the r to make the sauce so that you can get dip the. Come on, who. Somebody didn't complete their duties on this drop off. Okay? And. And then I know whoever supposed to receive it was like, these are messed up. Like, I know they mad. Like, first of all, where was you gonna cook this meal at? Was you about to cook this in your cell? Like, who's order? You know what?
- [54:23]
Candace Kelly
Listen, so. So that's what, that's what makes me think. Okay, well, I'm trying to think, was this a low or medium security prison? I'm not sure. But you know, some of them can cook. Remember Sean Combs recently was, you know, getting together some food for Thanksgiving, but feels like someone on the inside was helping out there. There's. Sometimes they make drops inside of pigeons and the pigeons will land. I mean, this whole thing of dropping off food to jails is not new. But this particular combination is what has certainly been getting the headlines because. Because, you know, someone was itching for that steak and them crab legs and.
- [54:58]
Big Mama
Some old somebody was getting them a surf and turf and the turf, surfer turf, did not come through. I didn't know. Can I order me a man? Because I need one with a job.
- [55:11]
Candace Kelly
You need a drop off, I need.
- [55:12]
Big Mama
A drone drop off. And I need to know what the return policy is so I can send him back just in case it don't work out. Please, please let me know.
- [55:22]
Candace Kelly
Oh, gosh.
- [55:23]
Big Mama
Oh, like I never. And this is another thing. A friend of mine, a friend of mine's friend just recently went to jail, okay?
- [55:31]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
And.
- [55:34]
Big Mama
I'm gonna ride this whole thing out with her because she's never known nobody to go to jail. But I. And I'm telling her every day, please call me, give me updates, because I find it hilarious. And the man just asked his. His sister the other day, I need $600. For what?
- [55:47]
Candace Kelly
Yes.
- [55:48]
Big Mama
When did jail become Walmart shop? Right?
- [55:53]
Candace Kelly
Wow.
- [55:55]
Big Mama
Money here.
- [55:56]
Candace Kelly
For what?
- [55:57]
Big Mama
I mean, there's you living off of my tax dollars. So what did you buy? Is it like, are you buying chairs and furniture? Like, what do you need 600 for? Like, how.
- [56:09]
Candace Kelly
That is a lot of money.
- [56:10]
Big Mama
He was like, I gotta buy stuff. What are you buying? Are you getting.
- [56:13]
Candace Kelly
There's not that much beef jerky and Tune in the World or whatever.
- [56:18]
Big Mama
Tuna fish and Cheeto sandwiches. What he said, yeah, I need money in here. But, you know, they. First of all, I'm a little. I'm gonna try not to put too much of my business out there, because I want to have. I want to be a steady on the show. But I have found out. I have found out that they have laptops in there. Yes, they have computers. They did computer in it. They have profiles in there. Like, they profile. I'm trying to talk to single poor women like myself. But you listen.
- [56:51]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
Let me tell you something.
- [56:52]
Big Mama
You always know if you're talking to a jail brother. Let me just tell y' all real quick. When he get this close to the screen, you don't see nothing else in the back. He's in jail, ladies. Don't talk to him. Want you to do a drone drop off. Don't do it. Oh, my goodness. Like, what do you need in jail that you need this money? Are you changing outfits? Like, what is happening?
- [57:15]
Candace Kelly
Oh, my goodness.
- [57:16]
Big Mama
Are you doing what? What's going on?
- [57:20]
Candace Kelly
As we leave, here's what I want to know. And I asked this to Dr. Jeffries too. So you're on macaroni and cheese? Is that what I heard you say?
- [57:27]
Big Mama
Maybe. I'm on all duty. Macaroni and cheese. I'm on the meats. I have my homegirl bring the greens. But anything else I bake, I cook myself.
- [57:34]
Candace Kelly
Is that right?
- [57:35]
Big Mama
And it's gone.
- [57:36]
Candace Kelly
And it's gone. Now, how do you do your stuff? And this is what I want to know.
- [57:39]
Big Mama
Oh, come on. Let's talk about it now. I'll give y' all all the little ingredients. Tick tock. And Instagram is your Frame. Don't think that they are not. It's not just for looking for men and getting in people's dms.
- [57:48]
Candace Kelly
Okay.
- [57:49]
Big Mama
So I had used a couple of people's different recipes. I'm not the egg lady. I'm not putting no egg in my stuff because I'm not baking a cake. I think that's disgusting.
- [57:58]
Candace Kelly
But that. Wait a minute now. The egg is the gel.
- [58:01]
Big Mama
It holds it. Yeah. You're defending it because you must have put eggs in that damn stuffing.
- [58:05]
Candace Kelly
I have tried many recipes, and. But I take offense to your observation, ma'. Am.
- [58:13]
Big Mama
I'm just saying I'm not baking.
- [58:15]
Candace Kelly
Okay. No egg.
- [58:17]
Big Mama
To each his own. If you want to go and scramble up egg, I'm not egging it. Mine is my herbs, my spices. I take saute. I take chicken, I saute it and cook with all my.
- [58:29]
Candace Kelly
Okay.
- [58:29]
Big Mama
And then I do my cornbread like I'm supposed to. I grab. Get all that together, and then after it's all done, I cook it in a pot. I've seen people cook it in the pan that they gonna put it in the oven. That's just the laziest I've ever seen in my life. I put it in the pot, and then a lot of people, it's like. Like, they whipping it like it's cake batter. So soupy and wet. Like. I don't want that.
- [58:52]
Candace Kelly
Neither do I. Correct, Correct.
- [58:55]
Big Mama
It shouldn't be that wet.
- [58:56]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
It shouldn't be.
- [58:57]
Big Mama
I don't know what y' all doing. Some of y' all should just stay out the kitchen. But it's okay. Once I put on my eat ingredients, I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm for the trilogy. I go get the divine four. The pepper, the onions, and the different color onions. And that red onion, that purple onion.
- [59:13]
Candace Kelly
I see celery. Wait a minute. Celery.
- [59:15]
Big Mama
I do the celery too. If you go to shop, right?
- [59:17]
Candace Kelly
Or.
- [59:18]
Big Mama
Or stop a shop, it's split in four. Purple, Purple onion.
- [59:22]
Candace Kelly
Yes.
- [59:22]
Big Mama
You got the red pepper, the green pepper, the yellow pepper. It's already chopped up for you. You ain't got to do none of that. Just throw that right in the thing. If you want to add more, then I add some more purple onion. But the celery and the carrots is already cut up. And then I just get to season it to my taste. But that egg, I saute my chicken, so that's ready. And then I put it. But that eggs, I'm. They actually, every time I see somebody like, you're not making macaroni cheese. You're not baking a cake. It's okay. Let me ask you a question, okay? Are you calling it stuffing? Are you calling it dressing?
- [59:55]
Candace Kelly
Oh, my people from the south, they're just dressing all the way, baby.
- [59:58]
Big Mama
Come on. Not at all. Is this stuffing Address what you calling it?
- [60:01]
Candace Kelly
It is dressing.
- [60:03]
Big Mama
So my mama used to call it dressing. But my mama. Old school. My mama used to use. Lord, I love her. Them giblets and them chicken gizzards. I don't never want that. I'm never using that in life.
- [60:16]
Candace Kelly
So. So let me tell you just a little bit. So this is a question that comes up exactly twice a year, right? Stuffing or dressing? So I want folks to look up kush from Africa. This is what we brought over from here. And kush is something that those who were enslaved brought over here. And. And they would mince up cornbread and very, like, much smaller than we know it, but they would mince it up, mince it up, mince it up. And they would add the trilogy. They would add the green peppers, the onions, and the celery. And that in terms of the dressing that we know, that's where it comes from. Kush, y'. All, look it up. We've been making stuffing forever. And everybody has their version of stuffing, but the folks I know growing up didn't actually put the stuff. Stuffing in the cavity of the bird.
- [61:02]
Big Mama
That.
- [61:02]
Candace Kelly
That's. That's different.
- [61:03]
Big Mama
Girl, stop. First of all, that's the recipe for salmonella poisoning.
- [61:10]
Candace Kelly
Exactly.
- [61:11]
Big Mama
And I'm laughing because you said cush. I was like, what you know about weed candy?
- [61:15]
Candace Kelly
Not that kush, friend, y'.
- [61:18]
Big Mama
All. She don't mean that cush. She mean the other cush.
- [61:21]
Candace Kelly
I mean the other cush. Go look. Go Google. Go Google.
- [61:26]
Big Mama
I never. I never. Years ago, when we was younger, my mother used to put it in the bird. And once a year. Honey, that bird was just as rotten as that stuff.
- [61:35]
Dr. Hassan Kwame Jeffries
It wasn't.
- [61:35]
Big Mama
We did not have no bird. And that's, like, you should. And she was jamming that stuff in the way. Girl, you just. You wasting your time and your efforts. We don't. A girl. No, not for nothing.
- [61:46]
Candace Kelly
Yeah.
- [61:47]
Big Mama
The other people, the. The pink people, they've been stuffing everything but the kitchen stuff sticking there. They have an oranges, celery, carrots, a tomato, a rabbit's foot, a donkey's leg, a duck's tail. Just jamming it up in the back. Don't nobody want you to be jamming.
- [62:05]
Candace Kelly
Oh, gosh. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Well, listen, you have fun. I, I would imagine you put more than four cheeses in your Mac. In your Mac and cheese, don't you? I, I know you do. I know you do. I see it in your face.
- [62:18]
Big Mama
I, I, I'm not thick for no reason. I, I, I. And I'm a shredderer. I'm a shredderer. Don't be lazy. Don't go to the aisle where the cheese is shredded already. I'm a shredderer.
- [62:30]
Candace Kelly
I have. Amen. And don't cube it.
- [62:34]
Big Mama
I'm shredding my cheese.
- [62:36]
Candace Kelly
Yes, I am a shredder, too. Don't cube. And you can't. Like you said, don't bite out the bag. Don't bite out the bag. I have a cheese story. I'm gonna end on this. And I know my husband is in the room listening.
- [62:47]
Big Mama
Teachers, nothing. If you use a shredded cheese by yourself.
- [62:51]
Candace Kelly
And he bought this cheese, I won't say the brand name. He's like, it was on sale and it was shredded. And I, I said, so one day, push came to shove, and that was four packs of cheese. They were on sale. So you bought so many of them. I was like, why we have half a dozen of these cheese? I don't want. But push came to shove, and I went and got the cheese and I put it in. You know, you gotta make the sauce. It came out as one ball, I kid you not. And it wouldn't go anywhere.
- [63:19]
Big Mama
Back up, Back up.
- [63:21]
Candace Kelly
Yes.
- [63:21]
Big Mama
Are you telling me you're a roommaker? You're a cheese sauce maker?
- [63:25]
Candace Kelly
Well, I, well, you know, I met. I melt the cheese. Now we getting into it. What time is it? They're probably like, y' all gotta end this show, y'. All.
- [63:32]
Big Mama
I'm not a cheese sauce maker, Candace. I'm a builderer of the shreddering and the noodles. Oh, you sound like you are a cheese sauce maker, Candace.
- [63:41]
Candace Kelly
Oh, yeah, I make the yo. Yeah, I do. At least, you know, four cheeses in the pot, and then it comes out into a hole. And then I pour it over layered cheese in the macaroni already. Y' all better stop, y'. All. We got to end this show.
- [63:57]
Big Mama
You and this. You want them rude girls, you know, these little young girls use. You don't let. No.
- [64:01]
Candace Kelly
My grandmother from the South. But we're gonna continue. I'm gonna call you after. We're going to continue this because this, I'm gonna win this. First of all, it is dressing.
- [64:09]
Big Mama
No, ma'.
- [64:09]
Candace Kelly
Am.
- [64:09]
Big Mama
They Telling you in the comments, no, ma', am. No, ma'.
- [64:12]
Candace Kelly
Am. But I layer and do the cheese sauce. All right, you know what, we're gonna. I'm sure you a picture. Okay.
- [64:20]
Big Mama
Somebody want to taste both of the macaroni cheese. Don't let. We will have a cook off because we don't live far from each other.
- [64:26]
Candace Kelly
We don't play. We. I will get the picture. We will upload. I will end it at that. Hello. It was great having you.
- [64:35]
Big Mama
It was. Listen, I'll be back.
- [64:37]
Candace Kelly
Yes, we have to have you back. So good to see you. Thank you for letting us know what is going on in your world. We appreciate you all day.
- [64:45]
Big Mama
Please follow me on all social platforms. I'm celebrating my 10 year anniversary of Big Mama and friends this year. So be on the lookout. I need everybody in the building. We're going to do something special, something spectacular. Candace is going to be there, so just stay tuned. I'm gonna be on a stage near you.
- [65:02]
Candace Kelly
Big Mama always packs the house too, and she always makes them laugh, as your tagline goes. It's very good to see you and I bet you I will see you again. Have a good holiday.
- [65:11]
Big Mama
You too, my dear.
- [65:13]
Candace Kelly
Oh, my goodness. All right, so everyone, I want to thank you for joining us tonight. Learn so much. Learn so much. First of all, it's dressing. Secondly, you do use an egg and you do make the sauce over the pan and do the layering. But we're going to post a picture. I'm going to promise, I'm going to post a picture and so is she. And I'm going to ask you, y' all be the judge and then we'll go from there. Look, we will see you next week. When you do go to Shoprite, don't get the Shoprite cheese number one. Make sure you get your pennies that are owed to you. The man, by the way, who went and got his pennies, he did get them and they said, nope, you actually can get them. So go claim those pennies. We all know that pennies make a dollar, people. All right, we will see you next week. Remember to write us, let us know anybody that you would like. Features. We always like to share good news. We always like to do hot Topics. We always like to have fun here. I want to thank our guests, Dr. Jeffries as well as Big Mama. Make sure that you go check them out. Until next time. See you next Sunday.