A (3:56)
The other is the good brother, my son. Dropping the clues bombs for my son. I know my son since like 06 or 7, whenever he first came home. Full disclosure, not only are those my people, I do business with both of them. Okay? My imprint, Black Privilege Publishing, published both Tamika's books, State of Emergency, how to Win in the Country We Built, and her memoir, I Live to Tell the Story. Great stocking stuffers, by the way. My imprint, Black Privilege Publishing, publishes their podcast as well, tmi. So in case you didn't know, now you know. Now, both of them have been named to Zoran Mandani's transition team. Excellent choices, if you ask me. You know why they are excellent choices? Because they are true public servants, okay, who don't give a damn about politics. They care about the people. They actually do the thankless work of activism, dropping the clues bombs for their organization until freedom. And we all know activism comes with great risk and very little rewards. So when I saw Zoran add them to his transition team, I said, oh, good, okay, he's got a couple of people there that are that are going to hold him accountable. And I knew they were great picks when I saw the attacks come for both of them immediately. Okay, the headlines for Tamika were, mandani transition team includes Women's March Leader embroiled in Anti Semitism scandal. Fox News headline was, mandani taps disgraced Activists who said one day we can abolish police. The key public safety committee. Both of those headlines were about Tameka Mallory. Just because you are against the killing of innocent kids in Gaza and Palestine doesn't make you antisemitic. And just because you believe you should reallocate funds from police budgets to community based services like mental health, housing, education, violence prevention, because you want to address the root causes of crime, that don't mean you want to abolish police. You just want to reduce reliance on policing for social issues. Okay? And you're promoting public safety through community well being rather than punishment. You ask me, that's the perfect person to have on your public safety committee. Okay? Now, the good brother, my son. The NY Post ran a headline that said, Zoran Mandani taps ex con rapper who served seven years for armed robbery as criminal justice advisor on transition team. And I just saw on the front page of the New York Post today, the front freaking page, they have a picture of my son with the headline crime Boss Mondani appoints rapper who served seven years for armed robbery as justice advisor. Number one, my son was convicted in 1999, okay? He was like 19 or 20, maybe 21. Who served seven years for armed robbery as criminal justice advisor on transition team. Where do we begin? Number one, my son was convicted in 1999, okay? He was like 19 or 20, maybe 21. He was sentenced to seven to 14 years. Came home on parole in 2006 and he's been a model citizen ever since. He's a community activist. Okay. Spends years. He spent years volunteering as a violence interrupter. He has an organization called Raising Kings, a non profit group that teaches classes the inmates at Rikers Island. Okay. Benny Bosillo, I think his name is. He's the president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association. Said it is both disheartening and deeply disturbing that individuals who are convicted felons and have a history of breaking the law are being given the opportunity to help shape the future of New York's criminal justice system. Huh? Benny, are you serious? You a corrections officer who doesn't believe in people who have been corrected? My son has firsthand lived experience with the system. He understands communities that have been disproportionately affected by over policing, mass incarceration. He walked the walk and he survived it. Okay? That's what you should a symbol of a more restorative, human centered model. Not just this tough on crime system that we've been using. Okay? He has a redemptive story. Isn't that what we want? Ours? Redemption only for everybody. But black men, they always want to reduce us to our worst moments and they never want to acknowledge our growth. My son can reach people that Zoron or no other politician can. And that's what they don't want. That's what they are afraid of. They don't want more stories like my son. They want black men in prison forever. They don't want no redemption for us. And that's why I love Mandani's choices, because he picked someone in people. But in the case of my son, he's picked someone who has lived through incarceration and now advocates for reform. Listen to all these critics. You know, you say you want criminal justice reform and then get mad when somebody who's actually been through the damn system gets a seat at the table. What? What? Grope ain't always pretty, and expertise don't always come in a suit. Zoron picks someone with a pass to lead us into the future, and I, for one, love it. Please give all these credits to Zoran Mandani's transition team. The biggest he. Huh?
