The System Is Broken — And Nobody’s Teaching Us How to Fix It | Not All Hood w/ Kimberly Latrice Jones

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "The System Is Broken — And Nobody’s Teaching Us How to Fix It"

Podcast: Not All Hood (NAH) with Malcolm-Jamal Warner & Candace Kelley
Guest: Kimberly Latrice Jones (Activist, Author)
Date: November 7, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the critical gaps in civic education and engagement in Black communities and the broader implications for power, policy, and local change. Activist and author Kimberly Latrice Jones shares hard-won lessons about understanding and leveraging civic systems, the risks of remaining uninformed, and the profound impact ordinary people can have at the local level. Through stories, practical advice, and pointed critique, Jones challenges listeners to recognize and reclaim their collective power – not just at the ballot box, but at every local government meeting, board, and committee.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Power & Lack of Civics Education

• Intentional Ignorance: Jones argues that the broad lack of civics education—especially in underrepresented communities—is by design.

  "It is intentional to not teach civics because if you understand civics and your place in the world…especially when it comes to local…then you are powerful." (03:23 – Kimberly)

• Misplaced Focus: Most people don’t know where real, immediate power resides—often obsessing over presidential politics while neglecting city councils, school boards, and commissioners.

  “When you think about lobbying dollars…lobbying at the local level is just a matter of showing up.” (04:38 – Kimberly)

2. Tapping Into Local Power

• Community Influence: Jones emphasizes how showing up, even as a single citizen, dramatically impacts outcomes. Consistency and local credibility matter:

  "If I tell the world, not even the world, if I tell the community what’s going on, people are paying attention…people sit up a little bit when I show up at a city council meeting." (05:13 – Kimberly)

• Everyone Can Engage: It's not just celebrities or activists who can sway local decisions. Knowledge is the differentiator; anyone can learn and take action.

3. Personal Story: The Dangerous Corner

• From Complaint to Action: Jones recounts a personal story—dangerous traffic on her block—and how, in retrospect, she realized action (not just complaint) is possible if you know the system:

  “My answer was to concede my power…when we don’t learn civics, it’s a concession to power.” (08:03 – Kimberly)

• The Gentrification Lesson: Developers improved the neighborhood once it became profitable. But it only changed because “someone asked, someone said something.”
  • The difference: ordinary people can trigger change, not just outsiders.

4. The Power of Local Organizing

• Nightclub Coalition Protest: When a city tried to pass a noise ordinance threatening Atlanta’s bars and clubs, nightlife workers organized en masse, drawing media, public comment, and the involvement of artists like Killer Mike and 2 Chainz. The result?

  “That bill got filed...which means it died. Well, it died because you got 200 people in the entertainment industry…showing up so deep.” (15:11 – Kimberly)

• Lesson: Most local government policymaking happens "in the dark" unless the community shines a light.

5. The Ahmaud Arbery Case: Blueprint for Local Power

• Stepwise Organizing: Jones describes the multi-pronged strategy that led to the reopening and eventual justice in the Ahmaud Arbery case:
  1. Bringing national attention through marches.
  2. Registering people to vote to affect jury pools.
  3. Supporting a DA who aligned with community needs.
  4. Keeping the case in the media and public consciousness.

  “Many of these cases would close without the marches...” (16:32 – Kimberly)

• Key Civics Insight: Jury pools come from voter rolls. If you’re not registered, you can't serve—a crucial point for changing trial outcomes.

6. Accountability and Transparency

• Attend and Observe: Merely sitting in on local meetings informs the citizen and creates accountability:

  “I go down there sometimes…I just want to see what’s going on…how people are voting…how many people are actually paying attention and holding you accountable?” (23:00 – Kimberly)

• Voting Without Understanding: Many adults don’t distinguish between state and federal offices—voting blindly along party lines.

7. Systemic Barriers & Mindset Change

• Local Elected Positions Are Accessible: Winning a seat on local boards or commissions is often a matter of minimal funds and effort, especially since so few people participate.

  “You can win an election for…I joke when I say this, $8.67…people don’t come out for local.” (41:00 – Kimberly)

• Distributed Effort: Change doesn’t require everyone to do everything—just coordinated small efforts from many.

  “Find 15 other moms just like you…each take a small task…” (43:18 – Kimberly)

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On Conceding Power:

  “Government just does whatever it wants…We are not at their mercy. Government works for us. Our taxes pay their salary. The vote is the ticket to the party. The party is civic engagement.” (09:50 – Kimberly)

• On Local Organizing:

  “Things die in the dark. They live in the light. And that’s true of politics.” (55:19 – Kimberly)

• On the Importance of Mindset:

  “I don’t expect a single mom…[to] be down and do all this. Find 15 other moms…each take a small task. You didn’t come here by yourself. You don’t leave here by yourself and you don’t survive here by yourself.” (43:10 – Kimberly)

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Timestamps for Key Topics

| Timestamp | Topic/Quote | |-----------|-----------------------------------------| | 03:23 | Civics education is intentionally lacking | | 05:13 | Power of showing up at local meetings | | 08:03 | Personal story—losing power by not acting| | 15:11 | Nightclub coalition protest—power of organizing | | 16:32 | “Many of these cases would close without the marches…” | | 23:00 | Attending local meetings to ensure accountability | | 41:00 | Accessibility of local positions (“$8.67” to win) | | 43:10 | Practical steps for overwhelmed community members | | 55:19 | “Things die in the dark. They live in the light.” |

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Practical, Step-by-Step Blueprint (from Kimberly):

1. Show Up: Presence at local board/council meetings creates visibility and impact.
2. Learn the Process: Understand which level of government controls your issue (city, county, state).
3. Find Allies: Build small coalitions—even a group of neighbors or parents.
4. Gather Data & Stories: Petition, record meetings, and document the issue.
5. Contact Decision-Makers: Hold them to the promises on their campaign sites.
6. Use Media Wisely: Bring public issues into the light to force transparency.
7. Know the Power of Small Actions: “Ten steps” (sometimes quite literally) can be the difference between drastic outcomes.

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Inspirational Takeaways

• “If you plan to fail, you’ll fail.” (39:17 – Podcast Host/quoting Kimberly)
• Local government operates in the dark because people don’t show up. Shine a light by participating, even in small ways.
• Systems can change—but only if people understand their true power.

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Community Resources from Kimberly

• Fork the System Brunches: Quarterly community brunches designed to teach real-life civics in a relaxed setting—open to all, not just women.
• Chemistry Initiative: Focused on Black health/wellness, vocational training, and civic education.
• Vocation Ventures: Helping underemployed community members get into lucrative trades, where generational wealth-building is possible.

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Closing Reflection

Kimberly Latrice Jones leaves listeners with a challenge: Stop conceding power through ignorance and disengagement. The machinery of local government is often more accessible—and more consequential—than most realize. With mindset shifts, practical effort, and a willingness to show up for each other, real change begins "from the ground up."

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For more resources, including upcoming Fork the System brunches and the Chemistry project, follow Kimberly Latrice Jones on social & check city websites for local committee seats and opportunities for involvement.

Transcript

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

When work gets crazy, I like to.

[GoFundMe Representative]

Stop by the bar after, have a few cold ones.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I don't drink at all until 4 o'. Clock.

[GoFundMe Representative]

We limit ourselves to one bottle of wine a night. Excessive drinking has a way of sneaking up on us. A few drinks, a few nights a.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Week, it can add up.

[GoFundMe Representative]

And suddenly we're at greater risk for long term problems like heart disease, cancer and depression. Reason enough to rethink to drink more at Rethink to Drink.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

No H A Initiative.

[GoFundMe Representative]

Have you ever had a moment where you think, man, someone should really do something about this? Then you realize maybe that someone is you. Well, with the help of GoFundMe, you can change someone's life. You could start a GoFundMe to help a friend pay for school, fund that new community space, or help a local kid finally get to that national competition. I've seen this myself. Last year, a friend of mine launched a GoFundMe to help with medical bills after an unexpected surgery. And it was incredible how fast the support rolled in. People want to help, they just need a way to do it. And GoFundMe makes it easy. So do you have a dream, a person or a cause in your life that could use some support? Don't wait for someone else to bring change. You can be the one who makes a difference. GoFundMe is the world's 1 fundraising platform, trusted by over 200 million people. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com that's gofundme.com gofundme.com Comrades, welcome to Not All Good.

[Podcast Host]

She's back. Today's guest is Kimberly Latrice Jones, Activist, author, and someone who refuses to let you stay ignorant about how power actually works. You know that viral video where she demolished arguments about economic injustice? Well, that's Kim. She doesn't just teach civics, she teaches power has it. And why folks don't want you figuring out how to take it back.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Does the president have the real power? Your governor?

[Podcast Host]

The mayor? Your school board? Well, she's going to help you figure out the machine so you can break it. And we need this right now. Right, because waiting for someone to save us is how we got here. Enjoy the conversation. We can. Just as we move on into it and talk about Missy and her. Her brunches.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Darling, here's to the ladies who lunch. Everybody laugh. That is one of my favorite musicals of all time. Really? Co. Sondheim. Oh.

[Podcast Host]

Oh. Talk about prolific. Now that's a whole nother conversation.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah, he's. He's like all these producers, we talking about tv. He's that to the stage. He is.

[Podcast Host]

He is.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

He does not. Sondheim does not miss.

[Podcast Host]

So the ladies and you know, is it only ladies who brunch that you do this in the mixed up or.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

You just do brunches in general? It's just brunch in general.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

This, the one that's coming, coming up in particular is at the Moms talk weekend. So it will be moms there. But the Fork the system brunches are open to everybody.

[Podcast Host]

What's it called?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Fork the system.

[Podcast Host]

Ah, look at you with your play on words.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I did not create that.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I wish I could take credit for that. I did not create that fork the system.

[Podcast Host]

And so you really sit with people and teach them how to fork the system and work the system because systems have not worked for people historically because they, they haven't known about a lot of information.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Here's, here's a very unpopular opinion, right? There are a lot of things that are, there are a lot of things that people allow to happen to them because they don't understand the power that they have. And here's where that is intentional. It is intentional to not teach civics. It is intentional to not teach civics because if you understand civics and you understand your place in the world, especially when it comes to local. Right. When we were talking local government, so we're talking about the state legislature and city council, the commissioners, who. No one interacts with the commissioners. And I'm like, that's where some of your largest budgets are, with the commissioners. And so when we think about that, like people have a misunderstanding. And when you think about lobbying dollars that get spent at the federal level, it is an absorbing amount of money you have to have. You have to be extremely wealthy to be able to exercise some lobbying part power or be a corporation, a conglomerate, a very, a very large lobbying group in order to lobby at the federal level. But lobbying at the local level is just a matter of showing up right.

[Podcast Host]

And just a matter of knowing where.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

And knowing where to be right. And knowing how to create the ask and giving yourself value in the community and cachet in the community that means something. Someone who is consistent about showing up in a, in a very intentional way for the community without any even price point being attached to them. They are very powerful in the sense that especially if you have some local cachet and some local credibility and celebrity, like people understand that, you know, you know, I have over 200,000 followers on Instagram 100,000 followers on TikTok. A good chunk of them are local residents to the state and the city. If I am trying to get some type of ordinance passed or something's done, that's. That's important to the people, and it is shot down by certain people. If I tell the world, not even the world, if I tell the community what's going on, people are paying attention. So people sit up a little bit when I show up at a city council meeting, right?

[Podcast Host]

And when you do show up and you're helping people, how does it go often? What is that? Because it will be a little different from you, but you're saying, anybody can do it, but you just have to learn the system. But when you show up, what does that look like?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Depends on which side of the aisle you sit on.

[Podcast Host]

What does it look like?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

For some people. For some people, it's excitement to see me. For some people, they've requested me to come. I've gone to school board meetings where there were school board members that said, hey, can we need you to come and talk about this thing. I'll send you the information so you can get knowledgeable about it. I haven't done that in years because now that my good friend Alfred Brooks is on the. The school board, I'm like. I'm like, chevy has it. He got it. He got it, he got it. But before. But before. And a good friend of mine, Royce, is running for city council right now. But before they were there, you know, there, I would get phone calls from city council, from school board members that would say, hey, this is the conversation that we're having. Here's the information and the intel about what we're talking. If you could come down for public comment, we would really appreciate it. I've gotten calls where I've gone down for public comment because a local lobbying group, I talked to them, and we had an ambition. And I've gotten calls from some of those same school board members who call me to do stuff that are just like, man, I really felt attacked today. And I'm like, well, don't feel attacked just because you are my comrade on some issues. You may not be my comrade on others.

[Podcast Host]

You know, let's go back. Because there was a time in your life where you had a problem with a corner that you lived on, and there were always accidents happening. You know, it's interesting. There's a movie about that, about a man. It's out right now. Accidents always happen on a corner, and it makes him, I don't know, do something It's a thriller in any event, though.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Oh, I want to see that. Yes. Yes. That sounds like my kind of thing.

[Podcast Host]

Yes, yes. And this. This is exactly what happened to you when these accidents happened. You did not know exactly where to go and what to do. But now you know better. What was the thing to have done at that time to deal with this corner where accidents were happening? Cause you were kids that you wanted to play out in the yard, and they could not.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah, I had about an eighth of an acre on the side of my house that should have been, like, green space for them to run around. And they couldn't because we had accidents on that corner several times a month. Often cars would roll into our yard. And I felt like it wasn't even just about letting my kids go outside and play. It was more about, even if I'm out there with you, if I'm not quick enough to get to you when a car is rolling in, me being out there doesn't make a difference at all. And so my answer to that at the time was to take them to the park up the street to play. My secondary answer was the answer that unfortunately, far too many of us had, which is just to complain and to say that if this was because this is pre. The neighborhood being fully gentrified, it was a diverse community, but it was a diverse community of young families and things like that. And so my second call to action was just to do what a lot of us do, which is just to complain and to say if it was another neighborhood, how they would do it different. And essentially my answer was to concede my power to the powers that be, because that's what we're doing when we don't learn civics. It's a concession to power. Right. And so now that I know better and I understand civics in a very different way than I used to, all I had to do was go down to G DOT and get the corner assessed. Once I got the corner assessed, I could put together a petition and get everybody in the neighborhood to say that we need this. We need this corner fixed. Once you do that, you talk to city council, you go to talk to your councilman. And as it gets closer to budget time, where they're going to release the new budget, so they have money in the budget for streets and roads and things like that. And now you can talk to them about writing an ordinance and allocating some funds, because assessment's already been done by the Department of Transportation, allocating some funds to put in a different lane to assess what needs to be done to make that corner safer. And it'll happen. So fast forward, you know, 15 years later, there are developers who moved in and developed that community who understand civics on a very deep level. And they did exactly what I said. And now there's a new lane and a new stoplight at that corner. There are also half a million dollar homes at that corner that didn't exist at the time in which I lived there. But a lot of times developers will move in and make sure that these adjustments, assessments, ups, you know, upgrades to the community are done. And we say, oh well, they're only doing it now because, you know, the neighborhood's been gentrified. There may be some truth to that, but the real truth is they're doing it now. Cuz someone asked, someone said something. Someone said something. Yeah. And. And we are under the impression that government just does whatever it wants to do and that we are just at their mercy. I view it government very differently. Again, particularly at the local level. I don't work for you. You are in my employee. My taxes pay your salary, they pay you. You are an employee of the people. And we think that our vote is the party. Our vote is the ticket to the party. The party is civic engagement. The party is showing up at public comment. I'll tell you one of my favorite things that I got to witness. I was not even a part of this campaign, but I was just so glad I was at city hall that day to witness it. I was like, it's not even me causing the ruckus down here at city hall today. I am enjoying, just enjoying the show. There was a noise ordinance that they were going to put on one of the nightclub districts here in Atlanta. And why would you put a noise ordinance on a bar district where there are bars, restaurants, nightclubs? Like a noise ordinance would shut these businesses down. Well, there were new condos and things being developed in the community and the developers and stuff, they wanted to do live workspaces. And so they wanted those restaurants and bars kind of out of the way so that they could put in these luxury live workspaces. And this word got out on the street about this, about this ordinance and in a matter of days, a nightclub coalition was formed. Nightclub coalition of club owners, restaurant owners, bottle girls, DJs, promoters, exotic dancers all came together. They came to the city hall meeting, it was hundreds of them. All of the. So many of them signed up for public comment, it almost broke the system. Many of them signed up for public comment and then conceded their time to who, of all people? Killer Mike. Who owned. Who owned, you know, him and 2 Chainz, both had. Were proprietors in the neighborhood. Killer Mike's broke. And 2 Chain spoke. And all these other people spoke. I have. I go to city hall meetings all the time. It's the first time I ever saw the overflow room used, right? And there was a fire alarm that went off mysteriously, and they thought it was gonna, like, disperse everybody. And it was a little drizzly outside. No, Everybody stood outside, informed, an impromptu protest. So then they had to let everybody back in. That bill went to committee. Now, if anybody knows anything about civics, there are different committees within your legislator, right? And they run different things. You have committees for transportation, community, you know, committees for all types of things. And so that bill went back to committee. Usually when a bill goes back to committee, to the committee that created it, it usually goes there to die. If a bill is going to pass, it usually passes on the floor. It doesn't have to go back to committee. Normally one of two things, and this is not, you know, exclusive. But generally speaking, normally when a bill goes back to committee, it either goes back there and it dies and it's not brought to the floor again, or it goes back and it gets changed so much in committee. When it comes back, it's not even the same bill or the bill gets filed. Now, if a bill gets filed, then it is dead in the water. It is dead. It can't, you know this. It can't even come back. That bill got filed. It was an ordinance. It got filed, which means it died. Well, it died because you got 200 people in the entertainment industry that have already made the news by showing up so deep. And they're going to keep talking about this, which means if you play the stupid games that you play in dark, in public, that's what it is. It took it out of the dark. What was going to be done in the dark got brought to the light. And that's all organizing around local government is. Is bringing light. I think about the Ahmaud Arbery case, which is one of our greatest tragedies and victories, right? The loss of his life is tragic, but the way in which organizers came together at the time for him is legendary and really is a benchmark for how organizing should happen. I was glad I was front row for that, too. Many of my friends, I participated in my own way. Many of my friends participated. But the reason I say in my own way is because we all did it in waves and pieces. And I'm gonna Give this game away because I want young organizers to hear this and mimic this. Ahmad's case was closed. So when The Good Sisters, Charbades, 19 Keys, Yanaja, Halone, Wolf, friend of the show, all decided to get buses of people, lots of black gun clubs, which very popular.

[Podcast Host]

Where are you with that?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Do you.

[Podcast Host]

I'm just gonna ask. Do you own a gun?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

You've been to a range. I'm not ashamed. I definitely am a second amendment person.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, we gonna put. There we go.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I feel like as long as they got guns, we need to have them too.

[Podcast Host]

So the buses went down.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

So the buses went down and a case that was closed got the national attention. That see a lot of times, when they see the boots on the ground, people, when they see organizers like my queen, my dear friend, Maya Naja, they don't understand. I hear a lot of people say things like, you all always marching. I'm tired of the marching. Many of these cases will close without the marches. Okay. So when you don't do the work, commentary on the work is usually rooted in ignorance. That case was closed. They had deemed it. They had said that it was fine, that it was self defense. All of that. We went down. Everybody brought attention to that case. After that, the next move was the case is going to be reopened and we need a new da. So next, the voting rights activists were activated. They went down and registered as many people as they could to vote one. Because now we have to run a DA that understands the sentiment of what we need done and we need that person to win. That's one piece. The second piece is a lot of people don't know that the jury rolls come from the voters rolls.

[Podcast Host]

That's right.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

If you are not registered to vote, you will not be called to jury duty.

[Podcast Host]

And they cast a very wide net in order to get people. You don't have to live within 10 miles of the courthouse.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

So we needed to impact that jury. We needed to make sure black people were going to get called to jury duty. Do you remember what the jury pool looked like for the Ahmaud Arbery case?

[Podcast Host]

Oh, yeah, it was. It was a lot of. Lot of us.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

A lot of us.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, it was a lot of us. And ended up being a decent number of blacks that were on the jury.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

From my memory.

[Podcast Host]

Was it. Was it seven or eight? It was not two?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

No, it was not two like it normally is, Right? It was not like it is at best.

[Podcast Host]

Right, right, right, right.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

So, I mean, there were voting rights activists who I know were like, they told people Look, I don't care if you ever vote. I need you in this jury pool for a mod.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Right. I need you in this jury pool for a mod. And so. And then the civil rights attorneys got activated, and they went down. And then the NAACP got activated to make sure that the press conferences were set up, that it stayed in the conversation. And then let's give props to where props is due. Ahmad's mom, who is a giant, and.

[Podcast Host]

She stayed in the media to keep it alive.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

She didn't let it go. She stayed in the media. She formed the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation. They started the run with Ahmad. There was a huge rally, shouts out to Reverend Jamal Bryant. We had a huge rally with myself, Tameka Mowry, and many other people over at New Birth to keep his name alive, to keep in grand support of his mom. And so there were a lot of moving pieces activated in order to win that case for Ahmad. But as you can hear, that's a lot of work.

[Podcast Host]

It's a lot of work.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

It's a lot of work. And we can't necessarily work at that level for every case. However, every town can work at that level if they know the system. So you don't need a Kimberly Latrice Jones. You don't need a Jamal Bryant. You don't need a yanajaha Char Bates, a 19 keys, you know, Tamika Mowry, in order to get these things done in your town, if you know the. If you know the blueprint, right, and.

[Podcast Host]

Get it done now as opposed to when it happens, because then you're working. You're working only because you're compelled to. But if you organize now and know the people now. Now, if we think about that Ahmaud Arbery case, the reason why we went. Why it went away is because one or two of the shooters knew the D.A. they knew the personally, you know, worked in some way with them. One of them did. So they were on the inside.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

So you do have to be on the inside. I had a friend of mine who reached out to me and he said, you know what? Somebody was being stalked and they were trying to help them. And they called the prosecutor's office. They kept on calling. They just wanted some information. They wanted to know what's the process? How is this going to unfold? And I said, are you off tomorrow? And they said, yeah. I said, just go down there and sit.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

That's it.

[Podcast Host]

If you are in people's faces, they will pay attention.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Local and national politics, as much as it can be, right? Because there is. There is obviously a level to what information is accessible to the people for what they say to be national security. But what's happening in the federal government is both simultaneously have lots of. Lots of dark for national security, but also lots and lots of light, which is why all the direction is done there. The reason so much happens at your local level is because it's almost all done in the dark. Nobody. You know what I'm saying? Like, if you're not showing up to city hall, if you're not showing up to the state House, if the commissioners meeting, I mean, we do get people who show up to city. City council gets the most attendance, and even that attendance is embarrassing, but city council gets the most. Not many people are showing up at the state level, and definitely nobody thinks to show up at the commissioners. And I'm like, that is the county. Those are some of the biggest budgets. Some of the biggest decisions are happening at the county level. And you can count on one hand with fingers left over the people down there. And it's normally our legacy residents, it's normally our seniors who understand this at a deep level and are.

[Podcast Host]

And that's a different voice. And it's not to take away from the seniors, but when they. When they see younger people coming, they get scared. That's right, they do.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

They get scared. And so, because guess what, you're going to get in large numbers with young people, potentially. Door knocks.

[Podcast Host]

They can go physically door to door.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

They can physically go door to door and get petitions signed or make people aware of what's going on. They're sharing information quickly with each other across social media. So before you could even shut it down, it's already gone. Moment they hit sin is posted, it's gone. And so, you know, this is. This is. This is not that they have so much power, is that they get to operate in the dark. They get to operate in the dark because we are not there. When you go to a city council meeting, every ordinance, every bill, every. Everything that they vote on, it flashes on a screen like this. And it shows you how each city council member is voting. It's there. You just. I go down there sometimes. I'm just sitting. I don't even have a reason. I'm not doing public comment, any of that. I just want to see what's going on in the city today. And I just go down and I sit and I watch and I look at the screen and I see how people are voting. And I see people who made promises on the campaign trail and now this vote doesn't match your deliverables. This vote doesn't match what's on your website. It doesn't vote. It doesn't match what you said on the press conference last week. It doesn't, it doesn't match what you said you were going to do when you were campaigning. But guess what? How many people are actually paying attention to what that vote is and holding you accountable. And holding you accountable. So you got all the backdoor deals in the world that you're voting based on those backdoor deals. Because all, because everything that people, the information that people are receiving about you is based on your like, performative conversation and not your actual voting record.

[Podcast Host]

Exactly. Just in theory.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Exactly.

[Podcast Host]

I think too that as we know people who still start at local levels and are holding positions, you're really preparing them to be the senator. You are, you know you are. So if you're going to get involved and you want to be the senator or you want to be the vice president or work in the executive branch or work in Congress in any way, you start local too. That's where, that's where most people have started.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Listen, I, one of one of the civics classes that I did, I was not surprised but floored when I realized there were adults who did not understand the difference between the state House and the White House. And what I mean by that was they thought all Senate seats were held at the federal level. They thought, they didn't, they didn't know what a state rep was. They didn't know how to make that correlation between federal Congress. So when they're thinking of their, their state senators and their, their state House reps, they're thinking those people are serving at the federal level at the White House. They did not, These were adults who.

[Podcast Host]

Didn'T understand, who didn't understand one was.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

State, one was federal. They thought all Senate, Congress, state House seats, I mean House seats were federal ones. They didn't, they didn't understand that. They, I have told, I have taught adults, adults, but that lets you know.

[Podcast Host]

About their voting record because if they were voting at all of them, they would have to see.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

No, even if they're voting, they're just going in and they're pressing anytime they see a Democrat.

[Podcast Host]

I got you.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

And they're not paying attention to the details of it. So they think all these people that they're voting for is going, are going to DCs to represent them. Like they, honestly, like I, I was talking to a woman the other day and she was saying, how do we beat A bill. And I said, well, that bill is coming from a federal. Like a national. It was a. It was a Republican bill. And I was like, it's coming from a national lobbyist. It's copypasta from whatever state. State it was originated in. The first thing that we just have to do here is send it through legal and make sure that it's even viable based on Georgia's constitution. Because there may be something different. Because the bill was coming out of Florida. Of course it was coming out of Florida. No shades of Florida, but. Shades of Florida. But it was coming out of. It was coming out of Florida. And I said, well, it's been based on. It ran through legal and succeeded through legal based on Florida. There may be some little small mistakes and nuances that are different in the Georgia constitution. That may be enough for us to challenge it in court. And she was like, what do you mean, the Georgia Constitution? And I said, every state has its own constitution. That is the operating body of law for that state.

[Podcast Host]

In fact, this is where we are now in terms of the executive branch, shall I say, telling states, do what you want, or the executive, judicial and legislative supposedly are supposed to be separate, but are they at this point, just read the headlines. And I think that that's the point. Point that I want to make.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Are they at this point, like, we think about it and what it's supposed to be, but what is it really? And sometimes that can be so disconcerting and make you think, well, I can't even have a say in this because y' all aren't following the rules either.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I mean, look at what happened at the Library of Congress. What happened at the Library of Congress is one of the most scandalous, salacious things that has happened yet under this administration. And yet people don't understand the weight of it and the scariness of it. Right? So when you look at our beloved Librarian of Congress, who is unceremoniously let go, one of the things that we forget is that the last time this administration was in place, one of the first things that she did was speak in front of a committee to let them know that there were things in the library that were being changed that were being removed. And so, you know, people, a lot of times we default on what is easy instead of what is true. It is easy. It was very easy. And it was allowed, Right. For the conversation to be. They fired her because she was a black woman. And so when we default to that, then we don't dig deeper, right? So this is a woman who Sat in front of who went to hearings the first time this administration was in place and talked about the removal of items and archives from the Library of Congress. And so what's one of the first things? If she was a troublemaker last time, what's the first thing I'm going to do this time? Well, I'm going to get rid of her quick. Right. And also, why was she making trouble? Well, she was making trouble because after she was. After she was released from her position, the person who was given her position, allegedly temporarily with somebody from the executive branch. Well, the exec. Someone from the Executive branch is not supposed to be over the Library of Congress.

[Podcast Host]

No. They give too much. They work too much. And correct me if I'm wrong, they work too much with Congress because they give them research.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

The Library of Congress is a legislative branch.

[Podcast Host]

That's right. So, yeah. So you don't want someone from the executive branch.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

The executive branch. There's no way somebody from the executive branch should be overseeing a legislative branch. Right.

[Podcast Host]

Separate.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Separate. That's the whole point. That's why we have the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. So now we have somebody from the executive branch that's been put in place to be over a legislative agency, which is the Library of Congress. And for the record, the library, her being let go had nothing to do with her giving inappropriate books to children. The Library of Congress, which is an actual library, it's massive. If you've ever been in there, it's massive. First of all, it's a reference library. Right. Which means you can check anything out. You can't check anything out. Anything that you handle, you have to handle there. The other issue is who is housed at the Library of Congress? Somebody very important. The Copyright Office.

[Podcast Host]

That's right.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

So the Copyright Office is housed at the Library of Congress, which means everything that has ever been owned by anyone is documented inside of that building. If you've never been inside that building, it's the size of a small town. It's massive. I was there because I was serving on a selection committee for the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. I got lost. It's that massive. They had to say, send a. Go a golf cart to come get me and bring me back to where I was supposed to be.

[Podcast Host]

Right.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

So they should not. So that's. That's. That's strike one. That's based on our Constitution. That's illegal. Someone from the executive branch should not be over a legislative agency. The. Besides the Copyright Office, the other. The other one of the other Primary functions of the Library of Congress is where all of our federal researchers are, and they are to be nonpartisan. So all of the federal researchers that give all the research to Congress and the Senate and everyone who is. Who are policy writers, are getting that information from the congressional researchers which are housed at the Library of Congress. The reason why the executive branch is not. No one from the executive branch to be over that legislative agency is because the information given is nonpartisan, which is what I give to someone who's a Democrat has to be the exact same thing I give to somebody that is a Republican. But if someone from the executive branch is overseeing the Library of Congress, I can influence what I give you and what I give you. I could give you something different than what I give you. I can withhold giving you things that you need. I can give you everything that you need.

[Podcast Host]

Which ultimately affects laws.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Which ultimately affects laws, which is why Constitution, constitutionally, we're not supposed to give it. The Library of Congress is also serves as a historical database for everything American that has ever happened. All of our papers, the Constitution, everything that's ever been copywritten, every book that's ever been written, every law that's ever been passed is all housed there. The executive branch started remove. Under the guise of someone from the executive branch running the library, they started to remove things. You cannot remove things from the historical.

[Podcast Host]

Database that is federally registered.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

It was one of the most fascist things that happened. And everybody defaulted it to. They fired her because she's a black woman.

[Podcast Host]

Now, I know you talk to a lot of people about this learning civics. And by learning civics, just make sure we want everybody to be on the same page. Because as you said, some people don't understand. But Civics 101, even the definition in and of itself, is learning and understanding the system and how the process works. That whether it's judicial, legislative, executive, on state and federal levels, to understand where you can get involved and make change. They always say a good civics lesson. Go sit down the courthouse. Which it is a good civics lesson.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I have a stronger civics lesson I like to give people here. Please. Yes, in Atlanta, marijuana is decriminalized in Fulton County. Fulton county covers a certain subset of Atlanta, and it doesn't cover a certain subset of Atlanta. That's DeKalb County. Now, DeKalb has a decrim bill now, too. But in previous years, DeKalb did not have a decrim bill, which means that when you crossed over from Fulton county into DeKalb, which if you are on the corner of Memorial and Candler. Right. So you leave now, Fulton county, and you're now in DeKalb county, even though you're still in the city of Atlanta. Keep in mind also that decrime bill, which. Shout out. Shout out to. Shout out to Kwame, who passed that bill. Councilman who passed that bill. If you leave, it was a city of Atlanta. So it was a city bill, which means you get outside of the city. So now I'm. I'm crossing over two steps. I'm standing on one side of the corner on one street. I watch 10 steps over to the other side of the other street. When I'm in city of Atlanta and I get pulled over with the user's amount of marijuana at the time, I'm getting a 50 citation. Ten steps further, I'm going to jail. Shout out to Benzino, who learned that hard lesson. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Is that right?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah, because he said, I'm in Atlanta. It's legal. Wow. You're no longer in Atlanta. You're no longer in Atlanta. Ten steps is the difference between a $50 citation and going to jail. Going to jail. So I'm of the school of don't cry about it. Fix it. So if you live on the side of the street where it is a. It's. It's a crime, some people would say, well, what am I going to do? It is what it is.

[Podcast Host]

That's right. And what would you tell them?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I would tell them you go find the author of that bill, you commission. You find somebody in your county or your city that will sponsor the bill. Because, remember, someone has to sponsor the bill, whether it's city council, someone legislatively has to write the policy. This is the other thing. People don't know what the legislative branch does. The legislative branch has two primary functions. Policy and budget management. They do lots of other things, but if I had to boil it down to what they do. They write policy, pass bills, all that jazz. Right? And then they manage budget. That is their biggest job, is budget management. Right. So what am I gonna do? Well, I'm gonna find somebody over where I live. Who. All I gotta do is go to everybody's campaign website, see which one of them lied and said they were pro cannabis.

[Podcast Host]

Mm. And then hold him to it.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Hold him to it. If you don't. If you haven't done anything to decrim this bill, that's cool. I'm gonna set up a stakeholders meeting with you and Kwame, who's no longer serving, so now he can come in as a consultant and he can guide you on writing the policy. Next said, I just need you to sponsor it. Then I'm gonna get all my homies together, and we're gonna self lobby and we're gonna talk to everybody else and explain to them why we need them to vote with you on this bill and what we can do for them and what it looks like for the community and what good standingism put you in. And you said on your website. So I'm gonna put you on blast on the Internet. You said on your website that you were running a pro cannabis campaign. So let's go ahead and get you to vote with him to sponsor this bill. Let's get this bill passed. Also in that community. Now we gotta hit the streets. We got a door knock. We gotta get these signatures. Now I gotta get at least 50 people from this community to come down to the meeting, all sign up for public comment. If all of us don't want to talk, that's cool. You only get a certain amount of minutes for public comment. We all 50 still going to sign up. And we're going to, one by one, when they call our name, we're going to concede our time to Kimberly Latrice Jones. Now Kim has 50 minutes to talk. Now Kim gets to filibuster the floor. As a citizen, this is why we got to understand civics, because we keep saying, these folks just gonna do what these folks gonna do. Every piece of power that you relinquish with those types of statements, they're not. They're not. They're not doing what they want to do because there's some great conspiracy working behind the door. It is scarily simpler than that. That I'm aware that you ain't gonna do nothing.

[Podcast Host]

And you're not gonna try to find out.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

You're not gonna try to find out the information to fight for yourself. And they're gonna do what they always do. I joke with my friends about this all the time. I'm gonna. Kim Jones is gonna get online. I can send y' all posts where y' all can see it, and I could tell people what to do. And then I'm gonna have 80 comments gonna tell me who ain't study civics at no point in their life. When I just wrote a book on civics and I had 13 researchers working with me gonna come up at the end of there and tell me why it ain't gonna work. Mm. So if you plan to fail, you'll fail, right?

[Podcast Host]

Cause that's the plan.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I don't plan to Fail.

[Podcast Host]

And you do get those people. I am sure, at many of your meetings, I'm charismatic. You're charismatic. You put out that fire very quickly, don't you, Ms. Kel?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah, because at the end of the day, I'm not. First of all, I'm 50 years old. I'm tired. This is why we started forth the system. I need a new generation of fighters. Auntie is ready to sit down. I need a new generation of fighters. But then that goes into the, you know, please study Ida B. Wells. Man, she was a cold case. Man, she was a cold case.

[Podcast Host]

The activists and the journalists and everything about her just combined.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

She explained how propaganda works to us 100 years ago. She explained propaganda to us 100 years ago. And the same game is still working. The same game is still working. At the end of the day, at the end of the day, half of the battle is getting out of the mindset of the blind belief of whatever the media circulates to us.

[Podcast Host]

You know, Harriet Tubman once said, you know, I would have saved more people, but I just couldn't convince people to come with me.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Couldn't convince. Cannot convince people to come with you. So many people. I watch so many people now, and I'm like, I'm certain you would have been left behind.

[Podcast Host]

You know, I think what other people also don't understand is that if you do decide to take a position, you know, it is hard to get on boards of EDs and commissioners and all that, but I don't think it takes as much money as people think.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I mean, you can win an election for. I joke when I say this, $8.67 when I tell you it doesn't take much to win a local election.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Also because people don't come out for local. Listen, we show up in droves with great pride for federal election. Everybody right now is complaining about how much Georgia power has hustled us and overcharged us. There's a whole lawsuit about how Georgia power overcharged us. But, you know, six, you know, four months ago, when there was a bunch of us trying to engage and activate people because the energy commissioner seat was coming up and we were telling people, these are the people that affect, like this seat right here. This seat determines what kind of monopolies are allowed to come in town, how your bills are being raised, how we're utilizing resources, where we are talking to the state, the commissioners, the city in terms of channeling money. Because remember, the second biggest thing they handle is budget. If I told you the numbers in the city that came out for that election. It is embarrassing. And then after the election was over, then all of this stuff started coming out about how Georgia Power had overcharged us and what are we going to do? And I'm like, what do you mean, what are we going to do? The election was four months ago and a handful of y' all showed up.

[Podcast Host]

So someone's listening right now and they're thinking, okay, that sounds good and simple. But I have a job. I have two jobs. In fact, I've got three jobs. I've got three jobs and three kids. I've got a drug infested neighborhood. I've got the high power bill. I'm trying to keep food on my table. I can hardly afford eggs. I'm doing this on my own, by the way. My car just broke down. Like, you know, it piles up. And I'm wondering, how do you tell someone like that? Yeah, but get involved. And these small changes can make a big difference in your life. Where does one even begin? As you said, so many people don't even know. Oh, there's state senators and then there's federal national senators.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Well, the first thing we have to do is change the mindset. And surprisingly, is not what people think. People, first of all, people want to change the mindset of it matters. No, the first mindset we have to change is our trauma, our cultural, for us specifically black people, our cultural trauma based mindset of I got to worry about me and mine. I came here by myself and I'mma leave here by myself. That is my least favorite statement of all time. Because you know what I say to people when they say that? You ain't came here by yourself. You came here literally attached to your mother. They had to cut your umbilical cord to separate you from her. You came here based on the nourishment that she gave you. If she drank water, you drank water. If she rested, you, you rested. If she ate, you ate. If she was healthy, you were healthy. If she was sick, you were sick. You didn't come here by yourself. You don't leave here by yourself and you don't survive here by yourself. So the first thing we have to do is get out of this mentality of by myself. I don't expect a single mom, you know, as Reba says, a single mom who works two jobs, little kids never stop. I don't expect her to be down and do of this. What I do say is find 15 other moms just like you in your neighborhood. And then you each take a small task. I'm off on Thursdays. School board meeting is on Thursdays. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna hit the recorder on my phone. It's my only job is to sit at that meeting Thursdays. And I might not be able to do it every Thursday, but I'm gonna do it every other Thursday. I'm gonna commit to doing it every other Thursday, and I'm gonna sit and I'm gonna record. Now we're going to activate with a mom who lives across town who is a retired mom. I'm getting a Facebook mommy group and find a woman. I'm a find. I'm going to put in that Facebook mommy group. Is there any woman in this town that wants to do something for another community that used to be a data analyst and had some free time? When I go and I sit every other Thursday and I hit that record at the school board meeting, I'm going to email it to you. You analyze the data and put it in spreadsheets, and you send it out to our group. From there, we're going to reach out and we're going to find some community organizer, activist, or organization in town that's focused on children. We have a thing here in Atlanta called Basis. I want y' all to look this up, because what we call it here in Atlanta is basis. But it's active in every town. Every single committee at the state. State house, at the city council, particularly here. Basis for the city council has a corresponding community. Most of those committee seats that are for citizens sit empty. They not only have one. For every corresponding committee that is in the city council, you can just. There are pages and pages and pages. If you pull down the spreadsheet for basis of committees that are set up for particular things, and a good chunk of them sitting empty. There's a whole. There's a whole committee for fathers, for fathers rights. I see men online all the time talking about my baby mama. She don't want to let me get my child. She mad cause I don't want to be with her because her body counts. 622. There's a whole committee for fathers that has been. That seed has been. Those seats have been empty for over a decade. Mm. You have. Not because you try, not because you ask, not because you educate, not. There are. There's money allotted for that that would allow for you to create programs for the young brothers who are struggling with custody who are experiencing parental alienation. The committee's empty. It's empty. Been empty. There are. There are. It would just take one young man to go down, get this. Get the. I'll give you the game. One young man go down, get the committee seat, become the president of that committee, Work in tandem with the committee, the corresponding committee in city council. Go to 100 Black Men of Atlanta. Go to one of these organizations and say, hey, I'm 25 years old. I'm a single dad. I'm experiencing parental alienation. The first step I did was I went down and I got this seat. I'm working with city council. There's going to be some potential income that I can get from this. I'm trying to figure this out. I don't need all of y' all to come on board. I need one mentor in the legal realm to help me put. Put bodies in these seats.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

And then put together some type of program that helps men like me. And then y' all need to find one male influencer who's hot. Go get somebody from the alpha male pod space. Go get Ugly Money Mei or. Or one of these guys. And then have you on the podcast and y' all talk about what y' all doing. And then that episode is raising funds for this young man and his committee. And now he's touching a bunch of men and that are listening.

[Podcast Host]

He's touching his audience.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Y' all not trying. Yeah. Yeah. You're just complaining.

[Podcast Host]

Which as they. As the old saying, complaining will get you nowhere.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I don't want to. I'm. I'm open to explaining. I'm no longer interested in complaining. Explaining. You have.

[Podcast Host]

And I wanna make sure people understand this. So they know as we wrap, that you do have brunches. I know we started out with that.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

What's up next for you to share with people? You know, come get with me. Let's hear what we. I mean, we gonna make it lit. Fork.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

The system is a good time. Okay. We're gonna have brunch. I was like, how do I get people to get out? I know how you get me to get out.

[Podcast Host]

Vittles on food and vittles. Right. Some drink and vittles. Now you do that.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Some vittles and some alcohol several times a year. You do that quarterly. Quarterly. Quarterly. So the next. The next fork the system is coming up is going to be part of the mom talks conference weekend. And then after that, we're gonna be doing it quarterly, and it's gonna be brunch and drinks. And I'm always gonna have a special guest, usually somebody from the legislator, so they can tell you exactly what their job is. I have Lots of friends who going to have them come out? I have friends who are community organizers. I'm going to have them come out. School board members, moms who've gotten things done, all of that. I mean, this whole, like, y' all got to look at it like politics happens from the ground up, not the top, bottom. So I want to teach people how to work the ground.

[Podcast Host]

The ground you paid for.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah, cuz every lipstick, lotion, everything you bought been taxed, right? It's all been taxed. So it's like, you know, and that's. All of that is part of a greater project and system that I'm working through called chemistry. Oh, I like your little play on words there, Kimmy.

[Podcast Host]

Kimmy.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yes, yes. So it's chemistry based on my name and it's really. Listen, anybody who knows me, I'm not saying anything that's out of the way. Y' all know I love all the people, but I'm focused on the development of black folks. And the whole system of chemistry is. We were attacked in so many different directions. That's what I broke down in my book how we Can Win Race History and Changing the Money Game that's Rigged is that we are attacked from so many different spaces. I as an individual, nor can my organization cover all those spaces, but there are specific spaces in which I have a special connection and concern and care. And one is our mental health and wellness.

[Podcast Host]

And is that under the chemistry umbrella?

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

That is under the chemistry umbrella. So is fork the system and so is Vocation Ventures. So my three ways in which I'm trying to attack it. Chemistry is about our health and wellness, for the system is about teaching civics. And then Vocation Ventures is getting young men, women and underemployed men and women back into trades. Electrical work, plumbing, things like that. Because the fastest growing set of millionaires in the US are tradesmen.

[Podcast Host]

And we know that when someone comes to fix our stove and refrigerate, you.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Have to pay a plumber.

[Podcast Host]

And you're like, wait, so you're like.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Am I sending your child to the school because the pipe broke?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, right, right. I have to pay you to come out then for the work. And then if you say it's and.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

The parts that you are getting for $2 and you charging me 200, girl.

[Podcast Host]

Listen, I want to open up the floor because you being the person who can tell us all things civics, I want to ask. We got some people in the room. Any questions? People for the civics minded, people who have questions for. For Kimberly Lee.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

They'Re like, we don't care. Just kidding. To go back into going. So what was the seat that you said was open, that the young man, what was that? It was the. It's the, it's the on basis. So you go to the city of Atlanta website, okay? Right. And whatever city you are in, you can go to your city's website. It's called different things in different cities. But in Atlanta, it's called basis. And you go, and it is the civilian, the citizen committees. And when you go and you click on it, right, it'll bring up a spreadsheet of all the committees. It'll tell you which ones are filled and which ones are empty. There are multiple committees for fathers that are centered around helping and securing the rights of fathers. Is there any particular municipality that people are actually taking advantage of that? I'm only aware of what's happening in Atlanta.

[Podcast Host]

Okay.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

And it's not there.

[Podcast Host]

And it's not there.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

It's not there. Okay. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And, you know, I think one of the biggest takeaways in terms of what you're saying is that when you are local, local in your town, right? And you understand that the person who you just voted to the town council or commissioners, then that person goes all the way up to be, you know, maybe a lobbyist, and then they become a state senator, then they work hard and then they go to the federal level, they move into Congress and they become one of your two senators.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Right?

[Podcast Host]

We know each state gets two on the federal level. And then all of a sudden they move up and then they're on the some type of appeals court and they go, you could have ultimately been on your local level, standing next to them at the Dunkin Donuts, buying coffee. This is the same person.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

It's the same person who works their way up. They're within your reach. They're in your reach. They're at your fingertips. I'll never forget when my dear, dear friend, State Rep. Park Cannon, when that unfortunate situation happened with her, where she knocked on the door where the bill was being. Where the bill was being signed and she was severely mishandled.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

And taken to prison. I was not there at the state House when that happened. Where I was there, though, which is some great videos and I'll post them on my page today. Some great videos where I was there, though, that me and a bunch of my friends organized to be outside of that jail where she was. And we were out there about a hundred deep, telling them to get her out. And that was Great. Because that got the national news there, which is what we needed. What was even greater was one of our frontline homies that we've been friends with forever was now serving in Warnock's cabinet. So we were able to make a phone call and get Warnock to fly in to get park released.

[Podcast Host]

You mentioned something really important there, and that is you have to be smart about using the media because you know you are doing things in the dark. If you don't get it where everybody else is involved and want something to.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Happen, I tell people the easiest way. As a writer.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

I love plays on words. Things die in the dark. They live in the light. And that's true of politics.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. I was like, oh, she just ended it.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, she knew that two days ago. And I'm going to end it like that.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Yeah, that was good. I. I didn't. I never. I never. My brother gave me that. My brother gave me that.

[Podcast Host]

I didn't even get to ask my question.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

Do you have a question for real? My question was going to be like, for. For parents who have children that, you know, they're registered to go. They voted in the last two elections, but they're like 25 now, so they're.

[Podcast Host]

Just like, like, how do I get them involved?

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[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

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[Podcast Host]

Depending on age and health status, vaccinations.

[Kimberly Latrice Jones]

For flu, COVID 19, RSV or pneumococcal infection may be recommended. Vaccines can help keep you from having a rough time. Learn [e-mail] Vaccines Protect brought to you by the American Lung association and cveep Fighting Infectious Respiratory Disease at Capella University. Learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the courseroom to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella Eduardo.